BE,S I: Blue Eyes, Shining: Intermezzi
by cpneb
Summary: Chapter 7 is up...Intermezzo 6: Memories.  An old picture found by Ron stirs up old memories for James Possible.  After chapter 8 of Always, Love....
1. Overture

Blue Eyes, Shining: Intermezzi

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. The lyrics to songs quoted in these intermezzi are the property of the respective author, artists and labels. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time….). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

- - - - - - -

Overture (introduction and explanation)

**What are intermezzi?**

Intermezzi (singular is intermezzo), in the most general sense, are compositions which fit between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play, chapters of a story, or movements of a larger musical work.

**Why do I have intermezzi?**

I am using these to prevent breaks in the story flow while also providing additional insight to the readers who wish to know more of what is happening or has happened (not necessarily from the primary character's or an historical perspective). This 'holder' will contain all intermezzi for all (currently plannded) 4 parts of the "Blue Eyes, Shining" saga, including "Black Hole Deep, version 2.0."

**How will these intermezzi be identified?**

The information at the beginning of the intermezzo will identify the story, the location (between or during what chapter(s) the intermezzo occurrs), and the time frame of the event's occurrence.

**Do you have an example of this?**

Below is the first:

Intermezzo 1

Story: Blue Eyes, Shining

Time stamp: this series of events occurred between chapters 6 and 7

When: at night, after Joss learned what happened to her mother.

Please respond with comments on this process. Thank you…cpneb.

And, now, with no further delay: Intermezzo 1


	2. Intermezzo 1

Blue Eyes, Shining - Intermezzo

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. The original lyrics to the song quoted in this chapter and the music are the property of the respective author, artists and labels. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time….). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

Enjoy! Please read and review.

- - - - - - -

Intermezzo 1

Story: Blue Eyes, Shining

Time stamp: this series of events occurred between chapters 6 and 7

When: at night, after Joss learned what happened to her mother.

- - - - - - -

Wade looked over at Joss, and she had the same grin on her face that Slim had before he kissed Betty.

"Wade, **you** didn't have to go thru this."

"Yes I did, Joss," Wade said. "I told you that I came up here to make sure, when you started, that you'd be safer than Kim and Ron were when they started. I promised you that, and I never break my promise."

"I know, Wade, but you didn't **have** to do it; you **chose** to do it," and Joss kissed him for the first time on the lips.

"And that's why you're **my** hero," and Joss blushed a deep red and took her dad's hand.

Slim just stood there, smiling. Betty had that Cheshire Cat grin on her face. Joss was smiling. Wade was thinking, 'I could use more of those smiles,' and standing there grinning like an idiot, contemplating that he should be careful what I wished for.

- - - - - - -

"I think that we all need to go to bed," Wade said after a few moments.

Betty grinned even bigger, Slim sputtered, and Joss turned even redder; then Wade mentally processed what he'd said, and -

"NO, THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" and Betty grinned even bigger, and Slim grinned, and Joss just stared and captured Betty's Cheshire Cat look.

"What I meant was, none of us have had more than a four-hour nap since we started, and I think that we all could use a good night's sleep."

"You're right, Wade," Joss agreed with a smile.

Wade started his goodnights by first walking to Betty and hugging her, shaking hands with Slim, and then standing directly in front of Joss.

"Joss?"

"Yes?"

"You're **my** hero," and he hugged her and, when he let her go, he stole a kiss. "Good night, hero," he smirked, and then turned and walked towards the exit door.

- - - - - - -

The remaining people in the room watched Wade walk out.

"Betty, kin I keep 'em?" Joss asked with a smirk on her face.

"Honey, I think that it's way too late for that. You've already hooked him; all you have to do is reel him in," Betty replied, and Slim snorted.

Joss turned to Slim. "Daddy, is it all right if I marry Wade?"

Slim fell back onto the couch, and Betty laughed at him. "Remember Sheri Nicole's dad, and the look that he gave you when you asked him for her hand in marriage? Payback's a tough mistress, Slim: besides, you raised her, and you have no one to blame but yourself."

After a few moments to get his voice back, Slim was finally able to speak. "Sweet Tea," he croaked, but his voice got better as he spoke, "aren't you two a bit young to think about that?"

"Oh, Daddy," and Joss laughed at him, "I don't mean tonight. I mean, when we get old enough. That'll be after I get out of college."

"Well," Slim pondered her statement, "you've got to get into a college first, and at the rate you're going with your grades, you'll be hard-pressed to do that."

"Not any more, Daddy: I'm changing as of tonight. All of my grades will be A's next year. I have incentives now," she said, and thought 'and I have a **really** cute tutor lined up for anything that I don't understand.'

"Joss, do you know what you did to Wade tonight?" Betty asked, and Joss smiled an evil smile.

"I **rocked** his **world**, Betty," Joss replied with that same smile on her face, "and he **liked** it, too!" Betty looked shocked as Joss thought, "just like he rocked mine," and she smiled even bigger.

"Joss!" Betty exclaimed, and then laughed.

"You're definitely Sheri Nicole's daughter. I haven't seen that look since the first time that your mom kissed your dad after their first date," Betty chuckled.

"Oh, no," Slim said to no one in particular.

- - - - - - -

"Daddy, I'm worn out, but I need to wash all of my demons off me. I'm going to the hot tub." Joss walked over to her dad and hugged him, saying "I love you, Daddy," and then walking over to Betty and hugging her.

"'Thank You,' Betty" Joss said, "there's not much else I can say for the person who saved me and my Daddy and brought back my Momma, but, 'Thank You.' You've helped me lock up my demons tonight, at least for awhile."

"You're welcome, Andrea," and Joss looked up at her with wide eyes. "I know; you haven't wanted to be called that since right before you started day care at that new school in London, right before…" and Betty's voice trailed off.

"Betty, it's too soon," Joss replied with a tear running down her right cheek. "Maybe, in a few years, but not yet."

"All right, Joss: I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Betty. I'll cage that demon, as well," and she smirked at the thought. 'With Wade's help,' she thought to herself.

"Good night, Betty. Daddy, would you come out to the hot tub with me after you say goodnight to Betty?"

"I'll join you in a little bit," Slim responded, and Joss ran over and hugged him. "I love you, too," he said, and she released him and ran out the door.

- - - - - - -

"So, Betty," Slim smiled and hugged her, "just like Jocelyn said: 'Thank You.'"

"'Thank You,' Slim," and she kissed his cheek. "Your forgiving me helped me lock up some demons of my own, as well."

"They grow up so fast, don't they?" Slim said, thinking back to his red-headed baby girl in her little blanket, in her mother's arms.

"You've done a fine job raising her, 'Dad,'" Betty replied. "She's already a fine young lady, and she's growing into an even better young woman."

"Why didn't we, Betty?" Slim asked, and she knew what the question was.

"You and I weren't ready, Slim," Betty replied.

"Are you leaving tonight?"

"Actually," Betty grinned, "all of this has generated a hunger. I'm going back to the kitchen and see if Ron stashed any of that trout back for a snack."

Slim laughed. "How you eat like you do and keep that glorious figure, I'll never know. I'm going to go soak for awhile and listen to my daughter. I'll see you in the morning?"

"Yes, you will," and Betty squeezed his hand. "Good night, Slim," and she released his hand as they both walked to the exit, Betty separating and heading for the kitchen.

- - - - - - -

"Daddy, have you thought about ever getting married, again?" Joss asked Slim as he stepped into the huge hot tub. Joss had been in there for about 5 minutes.

"Jocelyn! You're gonna give your old man a heart attack!" and Slim slipped into his seat.

"No, and you're not an old man, Daddy," Joss shot back.

"I had to take care of you, Joss," Slim said softly. "You just lost your mother, and I just lost my wife: we needed to get away from London and back to the US where we had family, and I'd always wanted to have a spread far from the nuts.

"Besides, I know what you're thinkin': that would cause Kim a bit of a problem." Slim was successfully holding back a grin.

"Kim? Why?"

"Then, we'd have to invite Gemini and that rodent with the gland condition that he carries around to the wedding, and she'd be related to him," and he waited for Joss to get it. It didn't take long, and she grinned.

"That would make him her 'Uncle-Out-Law,' then, huh?" and they both laughed as Joss sprayed water on her dad.

"Thank you, Daddy," Joss smiled, "for taking care and loving me," and then she laughed as she added, "but, you didn't get far enough away from the nuts, did you? Drew found the ranch, didn't he?"

"That I did not do, darlin', that I did not do," and Slim joined her in another laugh.

"Daddy," Joss had calmed down after the laughter, "I have a real serious question to ask you."

"What is it, Sweet Tea?"

"Would you have a problem with Wade?"

"How can I have a problem with one of the brightest upcoming young physicists in the world, Sweet Tea?"

"No, Daddy, would you have a problem with Wade and me?"

Slim was silent for a few moments; he'd known that this question would come up, and he had already considered his answer over the last few days.

He looked up, thought 'Where are you when I really need you, Sheri Nicole,' took a deep breath, and finally responded to her question:

"When I was younger, Sweet Tea, I might have had a problem with mixed couples, but I didn't know any," Slim admitted. "Remember, the 60's and the race riots, and Squirt and I weren't exactly raised in a totally liberal household: your granddaddy, may he rest in peace, was slightly to the right of Attila the Hun," and Joss laughed at the mental image of the Southern Gentleman being compared to Attila, "and the world we grew up in was very different that the world we're in now. It's not perfect, now, but it's way better than it has a right to be.

"I'll be honest; I'd never considered this as something that might happen until Wade came up here, so I couldn't have guaranteed you what my reaction would have been before. Logically, it shouldn't make a difference: but logic and the world don't necessary stay in sync. Y'all could have some problems as your relationship grows because not everyone is ready for you two, but Wade would already be much more aware of that than I.

"I'll tell you what I think right now though, Jocelyn: If you and Wade do get together, I'd give you away proudly, because a young gentleman has won my daughter's heart," and Joss beamed.

"I may still need to borrow some of Squirt's deep space probes just in case," and Slim grinned as Joss groaned, "but I don't think I'll need to use them. Joss, he's a fine young man, and if he stays on this path and doesn't hurt you, I'll gladly place your hand in his."

"Thank you, Daddy," and Joss sloshed over and hugged Slim.

Joss yawned and stretched her arms above her head, and Slim grinned.

"Just don't let him see you in what you're wearing now, or **he** may be the one having the heart attack," Slim commented, and Joss laughed.

"This ol' thang?" and she pointed at her wet two-piece, looked down, and said, "Oh. I see what you mean."

"Thank you, for admitting that your old man still has a brain in his head," Slim responded.

"What brain in what head, Daddy?" Joss laughed and splashed water on her sputtering Dad.

"I'm gonna take a shower and go to bed," she said as she climbed out.

"Sweet dreams, hon."

"Oh, they will be extra special, tonight," Joss thought as she grinned and stepped out of the hot tub.

- - - - - - -

Joss went to her bathroom, closed the door, put on her Bonnie Tyler CD, switched over to her favorite song, cranked the volume up to 8 on the 10, and got ready for her shower.

She knew the song by heart, but she had been working on updated lyrics for a few weeks, and now she was sure that they were right. She stepped into the shower, turned the water on, grabbed her back scrubber like a microphone and started to sing:

Where have all the good men gone 

And where are all the gods? 

I have found **my** Hercules 

And we will beat the odds. 

- - 

I've found a dark knight on his metal steed; 

Now, I'll never toss and I'll never turn, 

'cause I have found just what I need: 

- - 

I've found my hero! 

I'm holding on to my hero past the end of the night. 

He's already smart, 

And he's already wise, 

And together, we are oh, so, right! 

- -

I have my hero! 

I'm holding on to my hero for the rest of my life. 

He's gonna be strong, 

And he's gonna be great! 

And we're gonna be husband and wife…. 

- - 

She sang it over and over again.

- - - - - - -

Slim walked by and heard her new lyrics, and sighed.

'Wade,' he thought, 'I shore hope you're ready for another redhead in your life: this one's feistier than Kim, and I know this one thinks that she's in love with you.

'Good luck, son,' he thought. You're really gonna need it!' and he closed the door on his bedroom as the Hero song concert kept going.

- - - - - - -

Josh finished her concert tour in the bathroom and had gone to bed, but her head was still spinning from tonight's activities: what she had heard from Betty and Slim, what she'd heard from her talk with her Dad, what Wade had said to her, and from her kisses that she and Wade shared.

'I never considered that there would be problems with having a relationship with Wade,' she thought. 'I guess I've been living such a protected life, I just never thought of how anyone could be upset if it happened, if we just wanted to be together.

'But, since "anything is possible for a Possible,"' and she paused for a moment. 'I have to really decide if I really want this.

'I know Wade does, at least I think I know, right now,' she smiled as she thought of him. 'He's done all of these things for me, given up his time for me, put up with me, and stayed with me during all of tonight! Who wouldn't want someone like him by their side?' She lay still and thought for a few moments, and then made her decision.

'I love you, Wade Load. We'll make it work,' and she rolled over and fell asleep almost immediately, dreaming of tonight and her first kiss.

- - - - - - -

Intermezzo 1 fin.


	3. Intermezzo 2: Hers and His, His and Hers

Blue Eyes, Shining - Intermezzo 2: Hers and His; His and Hers.

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. The original lyrics to the song referenced in this chapter and the music are the property of the respective author, artists and labels. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

Please refer to chapter 1 of Blue Eyes, Shining: Intermezzi if you have questions regarding this concept.

Enjoy! Please read and review.

- - - - - - -

Intermezzo 2: Hers and His; His and Hers.

Story: between Blue Eyes, Shining and Blue Eyes, Shining: Training Table Blues

Time stamp: this series of events occurred after the end of chapter 9.

When: we begin in the rain, as Wade and Joss are about to be separated for the first time...

- - - - - - -

"Do me a favor, Wade," and she got 'the look.'

"Anything, Sweet Tea."

"Make a battlesuit for me, Wade: I know you've got the measurements," and she looked up at Wade and grinned thru her tears as he tried to dig himself a foxhole in the mud. "Betty told me, and she told Kim, and Kim's not mad at you: she's actually flattered, and she's also just a bit embarrassed."

Betty and Wade would have an interesting talk on the way home; likewise, Kim and Wade would have a similar talk when he got home.

"And, I'm not mad, either, Wade," she kept grinning. "I was, at first, when Betty told me what you did, but I realized when you collected the measurements when Betty told me how you'd done it, and I thought I would be in unique company. And, the fact that you did it showed me and them both how much you loved all of us: to risk your friendship to help keep us safe. It's that hero thing, again, Wade.

"Besides," and she got 'the look' again, "just think of what you have to look forward to as I get older since you've got those measurements, now," and she reached up and kissed me quickly. "Oh, strawberry-addicted boy," and she grinned even bigger.

"Well, now," Wade was finally to breath, "that was a surprise parting gift."

"Well, here's another," and she kissed him again, moved Wade's hand down to her rear, and squeezed his hand. Her other hand was doing the same thing to Wade.

"Oooo, and I see that someone else liked it," she said when they separated, and she giggled; Wade was glad that she couldn't see him blush.

"Thank you, Wade. For everything," and she brushed his lips a final time, and ran back under the covered walkway into the arms of her dad. Betty came walking out from under the walkway, helmet already on and her visor up.

"Ready, Wade?"

"I'm ready, Betty," and he tossed his bags into the plane, scrambled into the rear seat, strapped himself in, and picked up his helmet.

Before he put it on, he looked out to Joss and waved.

She waved back, and she and her dad turned and walked back into the house.

Wade put his helmet on, and keyed the microphone.

"Let's go home, Dr. Director," and she jumped into the cockpit, slammed the cover down, and fired up the engines.

- - - - - - -

As Joss walked back into the house, Slim felt her begin to shake, and before he could ask her is she was all right, she broke away and ran into the house, crying.

Slim found her standing in the hall, sobbing uncontrollably and kicking anything and everything close to her: walls, furniture, and air….He decided that it would be in his best interest to stand back for a few moments.

He heard her mumble something about "old enough to react batter than this" and "stop acting childish" and "yes, you idiot, he does love you," and she finally stopped crying and calmed herself. She looked up and saw Slim, and blushed.

"Sorry, Daddy, but I jus' had to git that outa my system before I flat exploded," she grinned, and let one more tear fall across her cheek.

"So," she said calmly, "this is what love does to someone. God, it stinks, doesn't it, Daddy?" and she laughed and cried and hugged him while he did the same.

- - - - - - -

They flew for miles, neither saying a word, until Wade broke the silence.

"Betty, would you patch me through to Dr. Donna Jackson at Middleton General?"

"The phyciatrist?"

"Please and thank you," and Wade chuckled.

"Here's your line, Wade," Betty told him after a minute.

"Dr? Wade Load. Do you have an appointment open this afternoon?"

Silence.

"4:30 PM?"

Silence.

"That'll be fine."

Silence.

"No, not a problem; in fact, I expect that you'll be quite pleased with what I tell you."

Silence.

"Thank you, Doctor. Goodbye." and Wade toggled the microphone off, then back on.

"Thank you, Betty."

"Are you all right, Wade?"

"I'm better than I've been since I was nine years old, Betty."

"A whole four years, Wade?" and Betty smiled.

"Yeah…that long, huh?

"Jocelyn Possible loves me, Slim approves, and Joss broke through **my** demon," Wade said, matter-of-factly.

"Did she know?"

"No, she just asked me the right questions, and then she had faith enough to tell me that I saved her, and that she would never leave me like Stephanie did," Wade replied, a single tear fell onto his lap.

"And then," Wade sat up, "she asked me to MAKE HER A BETTLESUIT, BETTY!" and Wade's voice got louder.

"oops." Wade couldn't see Betty's grin under her visor; it was a good thing, since he was a bit miffed at the time.

"Betty, YOU TOLD JOSS WHAT I DID?"

"sorry."

"and, you TOLD KIM?"

"well, technically I didn't exactly tell Kim because she had already figured it out, but…yeah, I guess I kinda did…"

"What am I supposed to do with you?" Wade sighed, looked up, and then grinned with thoughts of Betty in his dreams…

"Wade, I can't see you, but I know what you're thinking whenever you got that quiet, and, I quote, 'not even in your dreams, big boy.'" Betty grinned from her seat as she flew. "That's why I had them install the jamming system. Besides, even if I considered it, Joss would kill me first, then you."

"Hey,

"1: you can't control my dreams; and

"2: you're right, but that still doesn't get you off the hook.

"But, it gets me off the hook with you, right, Betty?" and Wade smirked as he thought of the ramifications.

'yeah, I guess it does."

"We're cool?"

"As the bottom-"

"Can I finish that sentence, Betty?" and Wade smirked even more.

"NO!"

Silence for awhile, then…

"I suppose I should be the one thanking you, after all, Wade," Betty continued.

"Why?"

"You broke through Joss' walls and got her to realize why she was upset and having problems: we've tried to do this for the last 3 years, ever since she began to remember her dreams. Besides," Betty chuckled, "you were a lot cheaper than her doctors.

"Well, Slim may not think so when he gets the bill for the wedding."

"Hey, that won't be for another 8 years, 6 months, and 5 days, give or take a day," Wade replied.

"Someone's a wee bit serious and anal about this, aren't they?"

"D'OI, Betty! And, by the way, so is Joss.

"I never felt like this before, Betty: not even about Stephanie, not even about Kim, not even about Monique, not even…oops, did I say that last name out loud?"

"Yes, you did, and this one I won't tell Monique."

"It's ok, Betty. Monique has known for a long time that I had a crush on her. She's going to get a chuckle out of me telling her about Joss, but then I'm going to get a chuckle about telling her that I have a fiancée before she does."

"Yeah, she'll probably get a chuckle out of…YOU HAVE A WHAT?"

"Surprise, Betty. I already proposed, she already accepted. I guess I didn't tell you that part, but I already told Slim, and I told him I'd be back later to ask for his permission to marry his daughter."

"Wade, you've surprised me once again." And they flew some more in silence, Wade smiling and Betty thinking about Slim.

- - - - - - -

Slim looked down at his daughter and wanted to magically take her hurts away.

He wanted to wave a magic wand and make it all better.

He wanted to snap his fingers and bring Sheri Nicole back.

He wanted someone to share all of this with.

None of his wants were possible, so he cried along with her and hugged her while she did the same.

- - - - - - -

As Betty flew, she wished that she could magically make Wade's dreams come true; about Joss, not what he was thinking about Betty.

She wished that she could wave a magic wand and find Sheri Nicole's killers.

She wished to snap her fingers and bring her and Sheldon back together.

She wished that she had had the guts to follow her heart and tell Slim how she felt: that she wanted to spend her life with him, that she wanted to help him, not replace Sheri Nicole but become a new part of Slim's heart, and that she'd give everything up, even Global Justice, if he'd have her; she knew him well enough to know that he'd never demand that of her, but that was how serious she felt about him.

She knew that none of her wishes would come true, so she shed tears under her visor as she flew Wade back to Middleton and she returned to her life of Kim Possible and Drew Lipsky, Sheldon and Will Du and Ron, and Global Justice.

- - - - - - -

"Daddy, when are you gonna tell Betty that you love her?"

Slim, stepping into the hot tub, slipped and fell forward face-first into the churning water and finally came up, sputtering for two reasons.

"SWEET TEA! Don't do sumpin' like that whil' I'm steppin' in; I coulda' drowned!"

"Sorry, Daddy, but it's true, an' you know it. You love her, don't you?" and she splashed some water on him.

Slim slipped into his seat gingerly, then looked at his daughter and sighed.

'Is it that obvious?' he thought to himself.

"I've known you all my life," she added and splashed more water on him.

'I couldn't' hurt you, Joss, so I've had to hide it even from myself. Her last trip up here pushed me over the edge, though; I finally was able to admit it to myself for the first time.' Slim admitted his feelings to himself, but he couldn't tell Joss.

'It doesn't matter, though,' and Slim thought and looked upwards into the falling rain to hide his tears.

"Why won't you answer, Daddy?"

"She can't love me, Josh, that's why. I was married to her best friend, and she could never think of me as someone other than that way," 'like someone who feels the way I do about her,' and the rain, mixing with his tears, felt somehow comforting as the mixture joined the water in the hot tub.

"And don't tell me, Joss, about what's 'Possible:' it won't happen," as he continued to stare upward, washing his face in Sheri Nicole's tears from heaven.

"I'm sorry, Daddy, I was so sure," and Josh waded over to her dad and hugged him. "I jus' wanted you to be as happy as I am," she added. "Wade proposed, and I accepted. Of course, it'll be a long engagement," she chuckled: "eight years and six months, but he's worth the wait."

"I know, Sweet Tea: Wade told me before he left, and I told him what I told you." And Slim was assaulted by a Possible child-woman.

"Daddy! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" and Joss hugged her dad even tighter.

"Daddy?" Slim looked down finally to see his daughter beaming up at him, her own tears flowing, and she spoke in an almost-whisper.

"Yes, Sweet Tea?"

"Daddy, I won't let you down," Joss whispered into the rain. "I won't let you **or** Momma down," she added, as the two soaking Possibles stood in the hot tub in the rain, their tears mixing with the water and the tears of joy falling from Heaven.

- - - - - - -

"So, Betty, when are you going to tell him?"

"Tell who? And, tell what?" Betty continued to fly; they were about 20 minutes from landing.

"Tell Slim that you're in love with him, Betty: 'and, you **know** I'm right,'" Wade channeled his mother's favorite phrase.

"I can't, Wade," and Wade could hear the sob that Betty tried to choke back.

"Why not, Betty? Besides, you'd make a great mother-in-law, and we'd have that Oedipal thing going on," and Wade chuckled as Betty laughed at Wade's last comment.

"Can't, Wade," Betty finally said. "I can't hurt Slim by telling him how I feel; he doesn't feel the same way about me, anyway. After all, she was my best friend," Betty added.

"…who would want you and Slim to be happy," Wade logically concluded.

"Can't, Wade; I wish it could; not to give you a chance to re-enact a Greek play," she smiled and Wade laughed, "but because it would make me happy beyond words. That's not reason enough to hurt either Slim or Joss, so I guess we'll stay friends.

"Trust me, Wade: being a friend with Slim is a whole lot more than I deserve," she added sadly, and Wade responded quickly and decisively...

"WRONG, OH ALL-KNOWING DIRECTOR-BREATH!" Wade yelled, and then he calmed a bit. "He's already forgiven you, and you know that Sheri Nicole forgave you years ago; so, now, you need to forgive yourself, Betty," and Betty was surprised at the strength of Wade's convictions.

'He's never yelled at me before,' she thought.

Wade added in a much softer voice, "If it'll help any, Betty, I forgave you. You did everything that you could, and you've done so much since then, and you've backed me in my quixotic quest, so I had to forgive you."

Betty was silent for a few more miles.

"Thank you, Wade," Betty finally got the words out over her still-captured sobs. "Coming into the hospital landing pad in 2 minutes; they're already waiting for you, Wade, and I'll send a car for you after you're finished."

Silence for a few moments, then…

"And, Wade?"

"Yes, Betty?"

"Thank you."

"Betty, it has truly been my pleasure," Wade said as they landed.

- - - - - - -

"Dr. Wade Load to see Dr. Donna Jackson," Wade said to the nurse at the desk.

"Hello, Dr. Load," and she tittered. "I'll tell Dr. Jackson you're here."

"No need, Shelly," and Dr. Jackson came out of her office.

"Dr. Jackson!"

Wade had not seen her in several months, so he was surprised to see her in a wheelchair and with a tube in her throat.

"Come on in, Dr.," and Dr. Jackson held the door open, and she and Wade went back into her office. Dr. Jackson closed the door, and turned and looked at Wade.

Then, a big grin crossed her face.

"You've had a major break-through, haven't you, Wade?

"So," and Dr. Jackson crossed her arms, "what's her name, and when are you two getting married?"

"Donna!" Wade grinned, and he hugged his doctor.

"You know me too well; that's not fair," Wade pouted.

"Well?"

"Jocelyn's her name, and the wedding is tentatively set for after she gets out of college in 8-and-a-half years," Wade admitted as he sat in the all-too-familiar chair.

"Well, I guess I won't make the wedding," Donna mused.

"The cancer?"

"Yes; it's n-stage now," Donna said matter-of-factly, and Wade ran over to her and grabbed her.

"Why didn't you call me?" he sobbed.

"I did, but you were with Jocelyn, and I figured that only a Possible woman could break you down if I couldn't," and Donna laughed as she pulled Wade up to look her in the eye.

"You've known this was coming, Wade. Why the long face, now?"

"I want you to meet Jocelyn, Donna. I want her to meet you. I wanted you to be at my wedding, sitting on my side of the church." Wade paused. "I'll have to get here real soon, then."

"I wouldn't wait several months, Wade," she added.

"Besides," she continued, "I got my gift. I got to see you get past Stephanie, Wade. I'm so happy for you. Redhead, right?" Donna quizzed with a smirk on her face.

"Of course: she's a Possible woman, Donna, and, on top of all the baggage **that** brings to the table, her IQ is about 50 points higher than Jim or Tim," Wade added proudly.

"Oh, my, Wade: you've got it bad, don't you?"

"I proposed; she accepted; I've already talked to her dad, and he's given me his tentative blessing. I told him I'd be back when it was time."

"Slim Possible?"

"Yes, why?"

"I should'a known," Donna thought out loud. "When your mom told me you went to see Kim's cousin Jocelyn, I suspected it was Slim. I knew Sheri Nicole in undergraduate school; she was two years ahead of me, but we were in the same sorority, so we knew each other. She was a doll, Wade; I was deeply saddened when I heard that she had died," Donna added.

"You're good, Wade?" Donna asked about his emotional health, now.

"I am, Donna. I was having lunch with Joss, and-" Donna interrupted him.

"Your dream lunch, Wade?"

"Down to the flan, Donna, and she loved every bit of it," Wade added with a dream look on his face, and Donna laughed.

"Anyway," he continued, "she asked me some questions, and I gave her some answers, and Stephanie's death came out, and she hugged me the way that Stephanie did, and I lost it."

"Wade, you're calm. I'm so happy for you: you **have** gotten past all of it," Donna said with honest joy.

"It didn't happen until she told me that I needed to tell the story, but not then, and she told me that she wouldn't leave me the way Stephanie did," Wade teared up for a moment, then it passed.

"She certainly sounds like quite the young woman," Donna said after their joint silence.

"You need to talk to Betty, and she'll tell you what I can't tell you about Joss," Wade added.

"That's why I have the clearances, Wade: working with so many agents, I have to have them. Besides," and she pointed at her throat, "with the time I have left, what is someone going to do: threaten to kill me if I divulge secrets?" and Donna laughed.

"How can you laugh about this, Donna?" Wade asked, honestly confused for the first time in a long time.

"What else am I going to do, Wade: cry for the rest of my life? That would be a short cry, anyway, so what a waste **that** would be," she calmly stated. "I know it's my time, and I've made my piece. I so wanted to see you better before I left, and I can now go happy," she smiled, and Wade knew that she was truly at peace.

"Besides, you know I have the most wonderful husband, Wade, and he's taken all of this **so** well. He's helped me help our kids get past it, too; I've been making recording for my daughters and son for different birthdays, so I'll still be with them," she added.

"You're quite a woman yourself, Donna," Wade said after some thought and conclusion.

"And, Jocelyn is a **very** lucky young woman, Wade," Donna replied.

"No, Donna: **I'm** the lucky one," he responded with total honesty.

"You'd better get home, Wade: you've been here almost 2 hours," Donna said, looking up at the clock.

"Where's your stuff?"

"Betty's sending a car for me; they have it."

"Betty?"

"Betty Director," Wade replied.

"So, now you're on a first-name basis with the head of Global Justice, Wade? You've got to come back, or we've got to have a long dinner sometime so I can hear this story," Donna stated.

"Seriously," she added, and both of them laughed.

"Take care, Wade, and say hello to your father and mother for me," Donna said as she opened to door for Wade.

Wade hugged her one more time.

"Donna, I wish I could do something for you," Wade said into her neck.

"You already have, Wade: you've gotten better," Donna replied. "Now, get home! Call me when you're bringing Jocelyn into town, and I'll cook for the both of you."

"Make dessert: she likes chocolate," Wade grinned at the double entendre, and Donna caught it as Wade walked out the door.

"I'll just bet she does, Wade," Donna whispered with a smile on her face as she closed the door to her office.

- - - - - - -

"Dad!" Wade shouted as his dad came out of the door to greet him as the Global Justice car pulled up, and Rebecca Jane and Arnold stepped out to open the door for Wade and get his things out of the trunk.

"Wade!" Ryan Load looked over his son who had run to him and hugged him in public for the first time since he was three years old. "Wade?" His dad looked at the two agents carrying his son's backpack and suitcase: both were grinning, but were looking at his son with almost a sense of awe and with a great deal of respect. He looked down at his son, lokked him over for a few moments, and then smiled.

"So, what's her name?" And the agents burst into laughter, and Wade looked up at his dad.

"How did you know?"

"Son, only two things will make a man change as much as you have in a few months: either a woman or a life-threatening event. Since you look healthy and nothing appears to be broken, it must be the former."

"Now we know where Wade gets it from," Rebecca Jane said sotto-voce to Arnold, and they both smiled.

"You're right, of course, Dad. This is gonna take a **long** time to explain," Wade replied, and his dad looked at him and grinned.

"Jocelyn Possible, right? What did you do, Wade: propose? And, what'd she do: rock your world and accept, right?" And Wade's silence convicted him, and both Arnold and Rebecca Jane laughed with and at Wade, both with joy.

"How did you know?" Wade asked, perplexed for another time today.

"I didn't; until now. Son: you knew you weren't ever going to get Kim; I saw how you looked at Jocelyn's pictures, and I saw the look on your face the days before you left. Son, before you left, you had it **bad**," and he laughed along with the GJ agents.

"Please forgive my son's manners; obviously, he has **something** or **someone** else on his mind," and he walked over to the laughing agents. "I'm Ryan Load, Wade's dad," and he stuck out his hand to Arnold.

"Arnold Carlos. Nice to meet you, sir," and Arnold shook his hand.

"I'm Rebecca Jane Casey, Mr. Load. It's good to finally meet you," and she put out her hand and was surprised when Ryan took it.

"Such a beautiful name for such a lovely lady," and he kissed her hand. "The pleasure's all mine," he added as Rebecca Jane blushed.

"Well, now you **really** know where Wade gets it from, Rebecca Jane," and Arnold grinned as Rebecca Jane blushed even more, and Ryan and Wade both chuckled.

"Let's get inside, Wade. Your mother's cleaned your room, and you've got to get mentally and physically prepared for what you're about to see," and Wade waved goodbye to the agents as they went back to the car, and Wade said the only thing that he could think of about his room:

"Oh, man…."

- - - - - - -

Betty walked into her home and set the jamming frequencies to the random system pattern best designed to prevent unexpected viewing.

"Sorry, Wade, 'no free lookie'" she grinned, as she strode into her bathroom to prepare for her shower.

She peeled off her grimy jumpsuit, reached into the shower and turned it on, letting it run until the temperature was right. She went to her CD player and pulled out her favorite CD: she was glad that Wade hadn't found this or heard her singing, or she'd be the laughingstock of Global Justice.

That didn't matter to her, though: Sheri Nicole had gotten her hooked on Broadway show tunes years ago, and she had fallen especially hard for several from the past mid-century, especially on, of all things, 'The Music Man:' Betty had a feeling that she must have been Marion in a past life.

She slipped the CD into her player and set the track one behind the song that she wanted to enjoy and then finished undressing, stepping into the shower and closing the shower door behind her. The amazingly strong and beautiful soprano voice belted out the tune of her rewritten lyrics over the sounds of the running shower:

Dream of now; dream of then;  
I'll dream of my love song that might have been.  
Do I love you?  
Oh, Slim, I love you.  
And I will bravely tell you but only when I dream again.

I'm not sad;

It's not so bad; not having you near:

Not true!

How long will I love you?  
Only, forever;  
But, can I ever, ever, tell you?  
Oh, no….

And Betty went on with her shower concert for a time as she washed the weeks of hard work, strain, stress, found but untouchable love, and her personal heartaches down the drain.

'If only it was that easy,' she thought, 'just to change my dream into reality,' and she hugged her Slim, even though he wasn't with her and never would be….

Her tears fell from her face and joined the shower water rinsing her body as they flowed into the drain, searching for her dream lover.

- - - - - - -

Betty sat in her blue negligee, propped up in bed with her laptop, working thru the results of the training sessions and looking at the status of her trainees and sipping a glass of white wine.

"Rebecca Jane's done quite well," she said to herself. "That time at the 'Lazy C' hase done her a great deal of good. When she finishes her master's program, she'll be ready to go full time on the new assignment."

She went thru the rest of the trainees, flagging only three for some additional time with the martial-arts trainers and only one for additional diving sessions. She tagged five for advanced weapons training, and then shut down her laptop, placed it on the night table, turned off the lights and tried to sleep, but all she could do was think…

'Sheri Nicole, where are you when I need you, girlfriend?'

'I'm in love with your husband, and I absolutely adore your daughter.'

'Jocelyn is so much better, now; it seems that she's found herself her 'Slim Possible,' only with a much better tan. He's a good man already, Sheri, and he's only going to get better with age. That is, if I can keep him from trying to get any additional free looks at my body,' she chuckled.

'How would you feel if I married Slim, Sheri? Would you hate me forever, or would you kick me in the butt and ask me what took me so long?'

'I wish I knew the answer, Sheri, I wish I knew…' and Betty finally achieved a fitful sleep. Betty was asleep and didn't see the bright, unexpected shooting star cross the night sky, disappearing into its own fireworks show.

- - - - - - -

Intermezzo 2 fin.

- - - - - - -


	4. Intermezzo 3: Two versions of the truth

Blue Eyes, Shining - Intermezzo 3: Two versions of the truth.

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. The original lyrics to the song referenced in this chapter and the music are the property of the respective author, artists and labels. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

Please refer to chapter 1 of Blue Eyes, Shining: Intermezzi if you have questions regarding this concept.

Enjoy! Please read and review.

- - - - - - -

Intermezzo 3: Two versions of the truth.

Story: occurs during Blue Eyes, Shining

Time stamp: this series of events occurred during chapter 9, on day 17, in the afternoon.

When: after the network tests were completed.

- - - - - - -

Wade and Joss are walking back to the bunker after lunch when…

"Wade!"

"Yes, Kim?" and Wade turns around to see Kim running towards him, an angry look on her face.

"Wade, who told you to move my web site?" and she stopped just short of him, and her green eyes were dancing angrily.

"Kim, we've already talked about this," Wade reminded her. "The site's not moved, yet, and we just completed the test on the move this morning: there won't be any problems. Besides," he grinned, "I told you, before I left, that Mom wants most of the equipment out of the house, so a lot of things were gonna move."

"Wade, we need to talk, **NOW**!" and Kim pulled him into the bunker. Joss stood, stunned at her cousin's actions and reactions, and then ran into the bunker to find out what was wrong with Kim.

- - - - - - -

What Joss saw was not the beige of the entryway and lobby into the bunker that she had left only hours ago:

The entry hall and lobby were decorated and filled with multi-colored balloons and streamers hanging from the ceiling, and there was a giant cake in the center of the room. Signs were draped across the room, and the room was filled with people: it looked to Joss like the entire Middleton cheer squad was here (well, except for Bonnie and the Queen's entourage), and Joss recognized some of the others by reputation: Monique, Felix, and Zita; and there were lots of other people that Joss had only seen in pictures. There was also some older guy there that Joss didn't recognize, but everyone seemed to be avoiding him for some reason.

The biggest sign was across the ceiling: a gigantic

**THANK YOU, WADE!**

Kim had Wade by the collar, and Ron was standing in his chef's attire in front of the cake holding two huge knives.

"Well, Wade?" Kim had changed her timbre to a much softer sound than Joss had heard on the way into the bunker.

Silence from Wade, then a loud yell from the people there filled the room:

**SURPRISE!**

And all of the people surrounded Wade, thanking him and congratulating him and slapping him on the back, and Joss was confused and felt left out. She started to back out of the room, silently, and Wade caught her movement out of the corner of his eye.

"Joss!" and Wade pulled free of Kim's grip and ran to her.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"What…What is this?"

"This, young lady, is a group of students from Middleton High thanking Dr. Load," the older guy followed Wade over to Joss, and he spoke in an authoritative voice, but then he mellowed a bit as he continued. "And, can I assume that you are related to Kimberly?"

"That's right, Mr. Barkin, and she's also my girlfriend," Wade responded, and pulled Joss to his lips and kissed her. Joss didn't complain, and she kissed him back.

Loud whoops came from all of the students; someone yelled "PDA!" and Mr. Barkin shushed them.

"This is not a school event, and Dr. Load is not one of my students," he responded. "He, however, has yet to introduce the young lady to me," and he smiled, but only for a second.

"Sorry. Jocelyn, this is Mr. Steve Barkin. Mr. Barkin, this is Jocelyn Possible, Kim's cousin, Dr. James Possible's niece, and my girlfriend," Wade concluded, and Joss smiled. Steve Barkin smiled back, and he knew what to do….

"A pleasure, Miss Possible," and Steve took Joss' hand, bent over, and kissed it.

The kiss immediately generated two events: a loud WOOOOOOOOO from the students, and Joss turning a deeper red than her hair.

"PEOPLE, PEOPLE," Steve called out, "Have you no manners?" and the noise dropped.

"Cuz, what's going on?" Joss asked Kim, still perplexed at the gathering, and she reached out and took Wade's hand. Wade smiled at the gesture as he relished her touch

"Miss Possible, the students are here to thank Dr. Load – Wade – for all he's done for them and their friends, Kimberly and Ronald. It was Kimberly's idea," Mr. Barkin added, and Kim walked over to Wade.

"Wade, you've been a part of my live, all our lives, for the last four years, and I thought that, since most of the people that you've touched have never met you and owe you their thanks, I'd arrange a little party for you.

"Your talents and skills have helped Ron and I and so many other people, and your patience with Ron and Algebra," and several students laughed, Steve grimaced, and Ron just looked sheepish, "is legendary across the school. Most of my friends have seen you on the screen in my locker and have never met you, and they all jumped at the chance to come up here and meet you…that, and Uncle Slim's promise of swimming hole access and 3 free days of accommodations and food," and the cheers came from the crowd.

"But, Wade, the real reason that they are here is because they care about you."

"But, Kim, I don't deserve this," and Wade struggled as Joss, sensing that something was wrong, grabbed his hand tighter.

"What do you mean? Of course you do, Wade: You've done so much for me and Ron, and several times what you've done helped keep the school and the town safe."

"Kim, you don't understand, it **wasn't about you!**" Wade yelled, and the room suddenly became sound absorbent.

- - - - - - -

Kim stood, stunned, and stared at Wade.

"It was **never** about you, Kim," Wade repeated, but only a bit quieter.

"Kim." and Wade stared directly at her because he felt that he at least owed her honesty. "Kim," he repeated, calmer now, "I should **never** have given you most of the equipment that I handed over to you. You both could have **died** lots of different times," and Kim gasped as did several other students, "risking your lives with untested gear, and I never could or would have forgiven myself for what I'd done." Wade pulled his hand out of Joss' grip, and pointed at Kim.

"I prayed, every time that you and Ron went out on a mission with the equipment, that you would come back alive," Wade said, and Joss was watching him and holding him mentally, because Wade couldn't have her touch him while he was saying this.

"I did this because you paid attention to me, and I needed someone to pay attention to me. Who would have paid any attention to a pre-teen, overweight, African-American genius, unless they needed something? You needed a website, and I delivered it. You needed a hair-dryer grappler, and I delivered it. You needed a battlesuit, and I delivered it." And, by this time, Joss had crept back over to Wade and was touching his back, and she could see Kim's face: shock and sadness were fighting for ownership, and fear was in the struggle, as well.

"I gave you what you wanted, and you paid attention to me. We had an unwritten contract, Kim, and I broke it because I started to like you as a person and care about what happened to you and what you thought of me." Wade turned to face Joss, and she saw the impact on his face: tears, fear, and self-loathing all had overcome him.

"Joss, we need to leave," and Joss grabbed Wade out of self-defense. Then, she felt another touching her, and looked up to see Kim.

Kim had come over to Wade and Joss, and she reached out her hand to touch Wade on the shoulder. He flinched visibly, and turned to stare at her in rage thru his tears.

"Are you **happy** now?" Wade snarled, and Joss flinched and Kim stepped back. "Made the little kid cry, did you? And, in front of your friends? Aren't you all soo special! See, you **can** do anything, Kimberly Ann Possible, even make me cry!" and Wade turned back to Joss, tears streaming, and whispered to her "I've got to get out of here **NOW**, Joss!"

"**WADE**!"

- - - - - - -

Wade turned, and saw Kim holding up her hand to stop him. She walked over to him, and knelt at his feet, a single tear was falling from her right eye.

"Wade, I took advantage of you," Kim said softly, and Joss looked at her cousin in horror.

"I took a little kid with a genius IQ who desperately needed to cling to someone and something, and I used you. That was sick and wrong, and I knew what I was doing, and that made even more wrongsick," and the single tear was joined by its cousins.

"You gave me things that I needed, and I knew that most of them weren't tested, but I didn't care: The rush of the first difficult missions kept me going, and you fed my rush with more gear," and Kim looked at him with sadness and love and fear.

"I fed your needs with more and more requests and work and attention, and I knew what I was doing, but I didn't care, because the rush I got was soo good; at least, that's how it started," and she wiped more tears off her face.

Ron came over sans knives, and placed his hand on Kim's left shoulder.

"You never got any more than a 'please, and thank you' or a 'you rock, Wade,' from me, and none of it meant beans coming from me," Kim added, and Joss continued to stare at her cousin in horror.

- - - - - - -

"BUT, if you had really hacked into my encrypted on-line diary, Wade," and she smiled through the tears, "you would have read the rest of the story. You would have seen how I realized, when you and Ron went to the Amazon for me, that I had realized how much of a fool that I had become," and Ron squeezed her shoulder. "I had treated the two most important men in my life, besides my father, like **crap** and they just kept taking it and coming back again and again for more abuse," and now, Kim's tears were flowing freely.

"I used you and Ron, Wade, and I had never realized it until then. Well, I took matters into my own hands and fixed the sitch with Ron," and she looked up at him and smiled: he grinned in return, generating a "TMI!" yell from the back of the group of students, "but I had not fixed it with you."

"Then, the Diablos came, and you came through for me big time with the battlesuit, and you saved me, Wade," and she tried to choke back the sob in her voice: other students behind her were less successful.

"You saved me, Wade," she repeated, even softer, "and you saved the world. Shego would have killed me if I hadn't had that suit, and I didn't realize that until well after the fight. And, Wade, **you** found the frequency to shut the Diablos down, and you never took any credit for any of it." Kim paused for a moment, and then she continued…

"Joss, this is **my** hero," and Kim kissed Wade on the cheek, their tears mixing on the two sets of cheeks. "If not for him, I'd be dead," and she bowed her head.

Ron squeezed Kim's shoulder.

"He's my hero, as well, Joss," Ron said quietly. "Wade has never laughed **at** me; well, not a lot of times," and Wade grinned thru his tears. "Wade always laughed **with** me. He took my silly comments and ideas and carried me through missions so many times; that's why I was shocked when you told Kim that I was a hero. I knew that you didn't know who the **real** hero was.

"Joss, Wade here has suffered from severe agoraphobia for years, and he barely made it to any classes for his college and post-graduate work without suffering severely," Ron continued, looking at Wade, who nodded his agreement for Ron to continue. "The fact that he went on **any** missions, virtually or otherwise, forced him to call on strength that I don't think even he knew he had. He's **my** hero, Joss," and Ron smiled through his own tears.

"He's been getting better over the last year, but this trip was going to be the turning point, Joss: If he made it here for any more than 2 days, I'd have been shocked. The fact that he's been her for over 2 weeks has been nothing short of a miracle, Joss, and **you** are completely to blame for it," and Ron grinned.

"You **both** are my heroes: Wade for all that he's done, and you, Joss, for pulling him out of his room, and out for the rest of the world to see. Besides," and Ron grinned big, "there's a lot less of him to see, now, and who's fault is that, Jocelyn Possible?" and Joss blushed, and the rest of the students applauded.

- - - - - - -

"Wade," Kim broke the applause, looking up from where she was kneeling in front of Wade, and the sound immediately disappeared, "I would understand if you never want to see me or speak to me again after what I've done to you, but…

"Do you think that you could you **ever** find it in your heart to forgive me?" Kim begged. "Please, Wade, answer me, I have to know," and she broke down, and Ron grabbed her before she fell.

The only sounds in the room were heartbeats, the air circulating, and Kim's sobs.

Joss looked at Wade.

The rage was gone in his face.

In its place was confusion.

"Joss," Wade called, quietly, and he grabbed her and hugged her tightly.

"I'm here, hero," she whispered into his ear, and held him as he flushed his rage and anger and self-hatred from his system with his tears.

"Kim," Wade turned to face her after he finally regained his composure and made his decision, and Kim looked up with hope.

- - - - - - -

"Kim," Wade repeated and smiled, and that was all it took: Kim stood and stepped over to Wade and hugged him, and the two of them shed more tears, this time of reconciliation.

Joss stood, silently, and Ron walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Is this a normal day for high school students?" Joss asked.

"Pretty much," Ron replied, Steve groaned, and the rest of the friends cheered and all gathered around Wade and Kim.

- - - - - - -

"Hey, BFGF, save some of that 'Wadeness' for me," and Monique pulled Kim away and hugged Wade herself.

"Way to go, 'stud:' you've got an 'imPossible' task ahead of you," Monique punned into Wade's ear, and Wade groaned.

"And, I'm so jealous of her and what she's going to go through with you, Wade. You're a very, very, special man," and Monique pulled back and kissed Wade on the cheek. "That's for taking care of my BFGF, Wade," Monique added.

"Hey! No kissie my boyfriend!" Joss grinned, and she hugged Monique.

"Channeling Shego, are we?" Monique asked, and Joss squeezed her tighter.

"GF, call me when you get into Middleton (and I **know** you'll be in Middleton **real** soon!), and I'll hook you up with some Club Banana just right for you that'll rock his world," Monique whispered to Joss, "and I'm Monique: Mon, to my friends, like you," and she squeezed Joss and then let her go.

"Thanks, Mon," Joss grinned. "We'll have a spankin' good time shoppin.'"

Wade had only one comment when he heard Joss' comment to Monique:

"Oh, man…."

"PEOPLE, PEOPLE! LET'S CUT THIS CAKE AND GET BACK TO THE GOOD TIMES!"

"Yes, Mr. Barkin," was the response in unison.

- - - - - - -

'I **love** it when a plan comes together,' Steve thought as he took a bite of another Ron Stoppable desert sensation.

"Are you ok, KP?" Ron asked his BFGF who was now standing and devouring a piece of his cake.

"Mmmmmmm," she moaned.

"KP! Please! Not here, Barkin will just give me more homework!"

"School's out, Ron. Besides, this cake is heavenly," she replied as she took another bite and moaned, only softer this time.

"So, what do I get for pulling all of this together?" Ron asked with a Zorpox-like smile.

"Remember the bathing suit that I told you about, Ron?" and Kim's voice was like nothing Ron had ever heard come from her before. "The white two-piece?"

"eep." Was all he could get out, and he felt dizzy.

"I brought it with me, and tomorrow, after the switchover, I thought that maybe we could 'test it out,' BF."

"aaa." And Ron almost passed out, but Steve caught him before he fell.

"Stoppable! What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, Mr. Barkin, nothing at all," and Ron grinned in anticipation. "I just got a little out-of-sorts: too much parachuting over the past few days, I guess," he added.

"Ahh, jumps," and Mr. Barkin thought of his days on tour while Ron thought of his days to come.

"Wade?" Kim called to him and held out her arms, and Wade gladly accepted another hug from a Possible women.

"I love you, Wade," Kim whispered into his ear. "But stay out of the diary, or I'll have your ass."

"I love you, too, Kim. You Possible women are going to be the death of me…seriously," Wade chuckled, and he and Kim laughed with each other as they separated.

"Thanks for the party, Kim," and Wade hugged her again.

"It's the least I could do for a full member of Team Possible, Wade."

"A full member, Kim?" and Wade's voice went up a bit with that comment.

"Wade, you've always been a full member of Team Possible, as important as Ron in my life, just without the 'benefits,'" Kim grinned, and Wade pouted. "Seriously," and his pout turned right-side up into a smile.

"And I want the world to know that, so we're going to make a few changes to the web site: the name's gonna be Team Possible, and you'll get full mention, just like Ron and me."

"Kim, I appreciate it, but I can't go back on my promise to Joss," Wade reminded her.

"I understand, Wade. I'm not the only Possible woman in your life, anymore," she said sadly, and she gave him the puppy-dog-pout, full force.

Wade just laughed.

"Been there, had that, won't work on me anymore, Kim: I have the enhanced version to deal with, now," and he looked over her shoulder at Joss, and winked.

"We cool, Kim?"

"Cool as the bottom-"

"Can I finish that sentence, Kim?"

"WADE!"

"Can't blame a guy for trying," and Wade and Kim laughed and hugged again while the cake disappeared.

Joss stood, watching Wade and Kim, and she was certain, now, that Kim would never be a threat to her and her relationship with Wade.

'I've got my hero for the rest of my life,' she thought, and then she smiled and the possibilities for the future.

Ron came over to her, joined by Steve.

"Are you all right, Miss Possible?"

"I'm fine, Mr. Barkin. I'd like for you to meet my dad, if you have some time. He's also a Doctor Possible, like Kim's dad, but most folks just call him 'Slim,'" Joss stated calmly, and Steve Barkin's response shocked the room as he yelled:

"**SEALIE!"**


	5. Intermezzo 4: Bunker: Swimsuit Edition

Blue Eyes, Shining - Intermezzo 4: Bunker: The Swimsuit Edition

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. The original lyrics to the song referenced in this chapter and the music are the property of the respective author, artists and labels. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

Please refer to chapter 1 of Blue Eyes, Shining: Intermezzi if you have questions regarding this concept.

Enjoy! Please read and review.

- - - - - - -

Intermezzo 4: Bunker: The Swimsuit Edition

Story: occurs during Blue Eyes, Shining

Time stamp: this series of events occurred during chapter 9, on day 18, starting in the early morning…

When: at 3:59 AM MDT, one minute before the Team Possible website is migrated to its new host location.

- - - - - - -

"Everything's a go." Wade announced from his chair in the PosComm Bunker control center. He was working from his laptop, connecting to the network and monitoring the site traffic.

"Are you ready, Kim?"

"Ready, Wade," and Kim smiled. 'Wade's bounced back surprisingly well after yesterday's "party"' Kim thought. 'All of 'my men' are strong, so much stronger than I'd ever given them credit for.' She thought back to how she felt when Wade had forgiven her, and a tear snuck out of the corner of her right eye.

Ron saw it, and he took Kim's hand and squeezed to remind her that, just like Wade and Jocelyn, she was not alone. Kim snuck a smile back at Ron, and then focused on her task.

It was a simple task: she had to click the mouse in front of her, and that would "throw" a virtual switch that would move her web site – no, that's wrong, she thought; - the Team Possible web site from it's routing through and temporary hosting at the Regional Qestar Communications company to the bunker.

"We're a go in 15," Jocelyn called from the computer next to Wade, and Kim smiled, again.

Her cousin had grown so much: from having a young teen infatuation with 'All Things Kim Possible' to 'All Things Ron Stoppable' to 'All Things Dr. Load,' and then Jocelyn had met Wade for the first time.

Wade wasn't impressive to look at, by any means, but Kim had suspected that something was happening in Montana.

The clues were there…

"10 seconds, Kim, down by ones," Joss called out.

Wade always called her five or six times a day when he was in Middleton; from Montana, he's called, at best, twice a day.

"9."

He had been bubbly and excited the first day, but he was quieter the second day.

"8."

He never said anything about Joss after the third day.

"7."

He'd not asked about Ron once, or even Rufus

"6."

He'd been happy to hear that the Tweebs were not coming up here, and he normally liked being around them, for God only knows what reason.

"5."

He'd gotten testy with Kim once during the time that she was at Nana's, and he'd made more comments (ok, they were downright digs) at her cooking skills.

"4. Ready, Kim?"

"Ready."

"Wade?"

"Ready, 'Sweet Tea.'"

"3. Whips and Ropes, Wade."

"Promises, promises, oh, tea-so-sweet."

"2. Back at you, strawberry-holic."

"Get a room, you two!"

"1. Not until we're both 18, Kim."

"Hello, Kim."

'Not Now!' Kim thought as Bonnie stood at the top of the ramp in the bunker.

"0. Now, Kim!" and Kim clicked the mouse, and the move was anti-climatic in its occurrence.

"Team Possible website is now hosted by the PosComm Alpha Site, Kim," Wade announced, and everyone who had been there all night cheered.

Bonnie was not amused.

"What are you people doing?" She demanded, and Rebecca Jane looked up and laughed!

"Why are you laughing?" Bonnie asked angrily.

"I've seen full-bodied idiots before, but never a full-bodied – "

"Rebecca Jane!" Betty shouted and covered up Rebecca Jane's last word.

"You **must** be Bonnie Rockwaller," Rebecca Jane replied calmly, and stood and flexed her shapely body to show Bonnie that she was neither alone nor 'in charge.'

"Now, if you'll excuse us, we're in the middle of something that requires a brain, so you can go," Rebecca Jane finished, and sat back down and began talking into her headset-microphone.

Bonnie stood there, shocked, and turned to her queenly entourage.

"Let's go, girls," Bonnie growled. "We'll leave the old people to their work, and we'll hit the swimming hole later this morning.

"Where's the bellhop" Bonnie asked to the air, and Slim responded.

"There's not one, ma'am. But, I can hep'ya. I'm Slim Possible, and welcome to mah ranch," and Kim sucked in the laugh as Bonnie gawked at Slim and Marcella giggled at his response.

"If y'all will follow me, Ah'll show y'all where you're bunkin' so's you can put away your bags and get ready for breakfast. Ah'll open up the swimmin' hole 'round 10," and Slim herded the small pack of cheerleaders out of the bunker. Slim stuck his head back in to look at everyone, gave a very visible wink, and the door slammed behind him.

The laugher was almost deafening.

"Rebecca Jane!" Ron came over and gave her a high-five, and Arnold just sat and smiled, but the smile was not one of happiness.

Arnold's smile was one of desire, of passion, of Rebecca Jane and wanting to join the mile-high club with her.

'Yes, he's definitely hooked on her,' Wade thought and smiled inwardly.

Kim came over and hugged her, and the two ladies laughed, then were joined in the hug by Betty and Joss, and all four were hugging and laughing.

All three guys wished that they were in the middle of that hug, and they all had the same reasons, just different.

- - - - - - -

The bunker activation to full operational status was almost anti-climatic: there was no interruption of the countdown that Wade gave, and Joss threw the switch to bring the Bunker fully on-line.

Ron popped open the sparkling grape juice, and Joss drank most of it.

"I've turned her into a juice lush," Wade lamented, and Joss wadded up her cup and tossed it at him.

Betty volunteered to monitor the bunker and the site for the first two shifts of operations while, as she put it, "you young people go and keep an eye on Bonnie and her 'posse,'" and she heard no complaints as they all ran out of the bunker, heading back to their rooms to change.

Betty pulled out a book that she had stashed on an earlier visit: "Sacred Problems, Divine Solutions."

Maybe she could find some answers to her problems and feelings, and she propped her feet up on the desk and began to read. She was glad Slim wasn't here, as her skirt slid back down her legs.

- - - - - - -

Kim stood in front of the mirror again, and pouted, again.

'Rebecca Jane's gorgeous! I don't have enough to compete with her **or** Bonnie. Why would Ron want to be seen with me?' she lamented in her mind. A knock at the door broke her mental pity party.

"Who is it?"

"Kim, it's Rebecca Jane," and she pushed the door open, stepped in, looked at Kim, and slammed the door shut quickly.

"Kim, why didn't you tell me you weren't dressed?" Rebecca Jane scolded her, and Kim burst into tears.

Rebecca Jane grabbed Kim's robe off of the bed and draped it on Kim, and then led her back to the bed to sit.

"Kim, what's wrong?"

"You wouldn't understand! You're gorgeous, and I'm so…" and Kim started crying, again.

"Caca del torro, Kim. You're a beautiful young woman, and Ron wouldn't give me the time of day: trust me, I tried, but he would look and never try anything. I finally asked Wade, and he had four words:

"'Kim Possible.' And

"'Since Pre-K.'

"Kim, I'd kill for a BF like that, and that man has got it bad for your body.

"And, it doesn't hurt that he's a gorgeous hunk of manhood," and Kim burst out laughing.

"Ron? Gorgeous???"

"Kim, Kim, Kim…you can't look at him objectively, you're too close: that old 'forest for the trees' line. Trust me, he's gorgeous.

"He's been working shirtless up here most of the time, and GF, let me tell you:

"Give me 'Ronshine' any time you're ready to dump him. You can cook on that man's abs, he's so **hot**!" and Kim blushed at the thought of using Ron's abs as a Jenn-Air grill, then smiled wickedly at the thought.

"And, GF, I've seen the pictures of her: BonBon's got nothing on you!

"You really think so?" Kim asked honestly.

"Kim, I don't swing, but you're going to knock his socks off. He's told me about the swimsuit that you have and he hasn't seen, and let me tell you: Ron has a **very vivid** imagination!"

Kim laughed.

"Here it is," and Kim held up the top and the bottom.

"Where's the rest of it?" and Kim blushed, again.

"That's all of it. Too small?"

"Kim, it's perfect! I'm glad you know CPR: you're gonna have to restart Ron's heart multiple times!"

"I'm just hoping Dad never sees any pictures of this," Kim cringed at the thought of her Dad powering up two Space Probes, one for each of them.

"Kim, let me show you just **some** of my tricks that will 'rock Rockwaller' into the ground, and put Ron flat on his butt," and the two girls laughed, Kim nodded vigorously, and they started on 'Operation Thump-Thump.".

- - - - - - -

Wade came out to work on his tan.

He was glad he'd been losing weight, but he knew that none of these girls would pay attention to him.

That didn't matter: he only looked for one.

The cheerleaders were all in swimsuits of various shapes and sizes, but they all had one thing in common:

Much more girl than material.

The guys and some of the ladies working at the ranch had staked out strategic spots around the pool, and they weren't disappointed.

Neither were the cheerleaders.

No one had told them that there would be COLLEGE BOYS here!

And, then, Wade stopped, and silently chuckled:

BonBon came out in her suit.

Bonnie was going for visual effect with minimal material, Wade thought, and the look didn't work for her. It was a shame, Wade thought: the right suit, or a BonBon battlesuit fitting, and she'd be drop-dead gorgeous. He had a truly wicked thought, and shook his head to get it out. She really was a lovely young woman, Wade thought, but she did **all** the **wrong** things.

Her 'girls' needed more support than they were getting in the tape measure that she wore that masqueraded, unsuccessfully, as her suit top.

She, at least, had a nice suit bottom that framed her perfectly, and she wore a tiny cover-up across her lower portion; it didn't cover up.

Drakken had the right quote, just the wrong person:

'Bonnie Rockwaller! You might think you're all that, but you're **not**!'

She looked great in her all-over tan, but she didn't know how to take advantage of it.

'Like Rebecca Jane did,' Wade thought. as she stepped out into the sun, and stretched.

Wade was certain that there was a higher power: nothing random could have created her.

She saw Wade, waved, called his name, and came over to him. The cheerleaders all grew silent when she walked across the concrete in her suit, and 3-inch spike heels clicked on the poolside.

GULP! Was Wade's only thought; other than 'Please, let Joss come out in the suit she described to me the other night!'

"Hello, Wade," was the sultry greeting that came from Rebecca Jane, and Wade got light-headed.

She giggled, and that brought him back to reality.

'Reality isn't so bad, anyway," Wade thought.

"You like?" and she bent backwards to stretch her back. Her "girls," Wade thought, were divine, but she wasn't Jocelyn.

"Me like, Rebecca Jane. Sorry, though, I'm taken."

"I know, Wade, but a girl can dream, can't she?" and Rebecca Jane branded him on his right cheek.

The cheerleaders all giggled, but all sound from them vanished in an instant.

Ron Stoppable and Arnold Carlos had arrived, but they only had eyes for 'the loser no more.'

Tara had a tear in her eye.

"I could've had that," she thought, "and I let him get away!"

Both Arnold and Ron each had a six-pack, but Ron's confidence overshadowed Arnold's boyish looks.

Jessica looked at Arnold and mentally drooled and contemplated having a banana split on his abs.

Liz was thinking: 'a Ron-ab stir-fry: no protein necessary: the beef **is** the pan.'

Hope thought: 'The Loser has left the planet, and look at what remains: YUMMY!'

Rebecca Jane said something, and Wade noticed that she was wearing one of the wireless tiny earpieces.

"Calling for backup?" Wade asked, dryly, and Rebecca Jane chuckled.

"Calling in the 'A-Team,' Wade; hang onto your shorts," she replied as Ron and Arnold stopped in front of Rebecca Jane.

"Were you hurt?" Arnold asked Rebecca Jane.

"No; why?" she answered and asked.

"When you fell from heaven, for you are surely my angel," Arnold responded honestly, and Rebecca Jane giggled.

'He shoots: He Scores! Nothing but Net!' was the same thought that came into the minds of Ron and Wade.

"Flatterer," she replied demurely, and Arnold shook his head.

"Rebecca Jane, I never realized how truly beautiful you are, until now. May I escort you to your lounge chair?" and he offered his arm.

"In just a moment, Arnold," and the door from the dressing room opened, and Kim and Jocelyn stepped out at the same time, dressed alike, and Ron and Wade grabbed both at their chests.

'It's the big one,' was the thought that struck their minds simultaneously.

- - - - - - -

Both Kim and Jocelyn were wearing white swimsuits, Wade noticed when he regained his sanity, but they weren't the same.

Kim's was the bikini of Ron's dreams and James Possible's nightmares: the swimsuit-equivalent of the LBD. The top perfectly framed Kim's "girls," Wade thought, almost as well as his battlesuit had. The white top had multi-colored piping around its edges. The bikini bottom was covered by a perfectly-fitted white sarong tied strategically to conceal and reveal; it, too, had the multi-colored piping.

What made Kim stand out was the pair of complimentary matching 2-inch white spike-heeled open-toed sandals.

Jocelyn was not wearing what she had described the other night to Wade: that was the good news.

Jocelyn was wearing something different: that was the bad news.

Jocelyn had the perfect white tankini with a matching white sarong that covered the gap between tankini bottom and swimsuit bottom as well as the swimsuit bottom, much both to Wade's delight and disappointment. The makers of their suits must have been the same: hers had the same multi-colored piping around the edges that Wade could see.

What matched Joss with Kim was the pair of complimentary 1-inch white spike-heeled open-toed sandals, and both ladies clicked their way to the guys.

The ladies walked up to the guys, but Kim took Wade's arm, and Joss took Ron's arm, and they both led their prey back to a more secluded lounge area in the general direction of the back of the bunker without saying a word.

Rebecca had watched all of it, but she was also watching Bonnie.

Bonnie looked devastated, and she ran back into the building.

Rebecca Jane ran after her and called out:

"Bonnie! Wait!"

Bonnie stopped, and turned to reveal her tear-streaked face.

"What do you want?" she snarled.

"To do for you what I did for Kim and Joss," Rebecca Jane replied simply.

"Why?" Bonnie asked, and Rebecca Jane wiped tears from Bonnie's eyes.

"Three reasons:

"Because I can,

"Because you deserve it and I'm doing a friend a favor, and

Because, most importantly, I've been where you are, that's why," and Rebecca Jane led her away to explain it to her.

- - - - - - -

Joss and Kim stopped the guys when they got of earshot, and motioned for them to be quiet as they went into the bunker rear entrance.

When they closed the door, Kim let Wade go and grabbed Ron.

"Happy, now, big boy?" Kim purred as she gave Ron a healthy dose of "Kimshine." Ron had no objections; quite to the contrary, he enjoyed his dosage.

"Well?" Wade turned and faced Joss as she spoke. "You like?" and she stretched and held her arms above her head and arched her back.

Wade's only response was to pull her to him and kiss her tenderly, then hug her tightly..

'"Wadeshine," rated G, but quite pleasing,' Joss thought, then abandoned her thoughts and enjoyed her kiss and hug.

- - - - - - -

When both couples broke, they all four burst into laughter.

"I wish you could have seen your faces," Kim said.

"Wade, you looked like you'd seen a ghost," added Joss.

"No ghost, Jocelyn: a pair of angels, walking towards me, and I was ready to go," Wade replied.

"Amen, Brother Wade," added Ron.

"You likee, Ron?" and Kim removed the sarong and posed for Ron, then turned a full 360.

"Oh, yes, indeed," Ron was breathless, but then he took a deep breath and smiled wickedly.

"What's up with you, Ron?" Kim had seen that look before.

"Zorpex has the perfect lunch for that swimsuit," Ron replied, and Kim blushed a beet red, and both Joss and Wade giggled, and Ron re-processed the sentence-

"NO! NO! NO! Our lunch, Kim! Come, your steed awaits! Lettuce Bee off!" and Kim groaned as Ron punned and pulled her out of the bunker.

"Later, 'Princess!'" Wade called out to the departing Kim , and Joss giggled.

"Wade, am I pretty?" Joss asked.

"Is this a trick question, or are you fishing for compliments? If you're fishing, you definitely brought the right bait," and Wade grinned.

"Seriously, Wade! Am I pretty? I've seen those other girls out there, and I can't hold a candle to them."

"You are so wrong, Jocelyn. You are the most beautiful woman here; I would not want to marry any of them, not even Kim or Rebecca Jane," Wade replied with as much sincerity as he could muster.

"So, 'stud', who branded you?" Joss purred as she touched his cheek. "It's not my color," she added.

"Joss, I, uh, well," and she cut him off with a kiss.

"You're safe, hero," she continued. "I told Rebecca Jane to do that," and she giggled, again.

Wade liked her giggles.

"I wanted those other girls to see what she **could have** had and what I **definitely** had, so let's go back, and you can rub some suntan lotion on my back," Joss added, "but watch those wandering hands, mister: remember, I've still got that whip."

"Promises, promises," was Wade's response as he took her arm and escorted her back to the swimming hole.

"Besides, you need to put some lotion on me, as well," Wade added matter-of-factly, "I need to work some more on my tan," and Joss guffawed as they turned the corner to the lounge area.

- - - - - - -

Kim and Ron had found Tornado waiting for them behind the Bunker (after all, what good is a robot horse without a timer?). Ron asked Kim to don the blindfold after she had hopped on Tornado's back behind Ron, and she did with only minor misgivings.

"Tornado: Ron-1, if you please," Ron said to his steed.

"Very good, Master Ron." and they took off.

"Are you ok back there, KP?" Ron called over his shoulder after they had ridden for awhile.

"Mmmmm-hmmmmm," Kim was thinking about her grip on Ron's stomach.

'His abs are scrumptious!' she thought. 'When did that happen?'

'Maybe, I just haven't been paying as much attention to Ron as I should have,' she thought. 'I knew he's been working out, but I never imagined that he'd gotten this far this fast!'

"It's the MMP, Kim: it allows me to focus during my workouts, and I get maximum results from the time I spend," Ron replied.

"Were you reading my mind, Ron?"

"No, but you've been practicing your Braille-reading, and you were reading my abs," and Kim was glad that he couldn't see her blush this time.

They were silent for a few more minutes, and then Kim felt Tornado slow down and gradually come to a stop.

Ron hopped off, and helped Kim dismount, reminding her to keep the blindfold on.

He led her across some soft ground to a spot where he guided her to her seat, then went around to the other side, grabbed what he needed, and sat down.

"You can take it off now, KP," and she pulled the blindfold off and gasped.

They were at the spot that Wade and Joss had found, complete with the table that Ron had constructed. This time, they were seated with their backs to the trail so that they could look out over the canyon.

"Ron, this is beautiful," and she turned and saw –

Ron was holding a dozen white roses, and he pointed down. Kim looked down to see the ground literally covered in white and red rose petals as far as she could see.

The stone table was covered with red, white, and yellow rose petals, and there were two burning candlesticks on the table.

"Ron, when did you do all of this? How? Why?" and tears came down like rain on Kim's face.

"Kim, you deserve it. You've put up with my Bueno Nacho trips, and I just thought that you could use a decent meal for a lunch, for once."

"Ron, this is beautiful. Thank you." and she leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"Wrong, KP: this is wonderful, the roses are lovely, the scenery is pretty. **You** are beautiful, the most beautiful woman that I've ever known. These roses **pale** next to you. That's why they are so happy to be on the ground that you walk on, Kim. 'Just like me, they long to be: close to you,'" he finished, and he reached over the side and pulled up the huge picnic basket and placed it on the edge of the table.

"Ron," she sat, still stunned at what he'd done for her and what he had said, and then it clicked:

"Channeling the Carpenters, Ron?" and she grinned as he removed the containers of food from the basket.

"You caught me, KP: but, for how I feel about you, it's perfect," he replied.

"'Like Queen Bonnie is perrrfect?'" and she started laughing.

"What was with Rebecca Jane calling Bonnie's name?"

"Long story, KP: Wade's idea," and with the mention of Wade's name, Kim suddenly teared up, and Ron immediately noticed.

"What's wrong?"

"Wade," and she burst into tears, a full, hard cry, and Ron held her as she released and waited for her to speak.

"How could he forgive me so easily for what I've done to him?" she finally asked softly after a few minutes.

"KP, you underestimate him so much.

"Don't you realize that he's known that you were using him for awhile? Super-genius, remember?

"And, besides, don't you know how much he loves you?" and Kim's head snapped up and stared into Ron's eyes, and the deep brown understanding eyes looked back at her with love and concern.

"Why else would he put up with some of your 'attitudes,' Kim? And before you growl at me, think back: how many times have you glared at Wade or yelled at him or asked him for things that he's thought were crazy, but he did it anyway?

"Wade loves you, and he told you that yesterday; not like I love you. Kim, but he does.

"Why else would you have that battlesuit?

"And, think for a moment, Kim, about how well that suit fits. I know what my reaction was when I saw you in it for the first time: 'YOWSA! I have seen Heaven, and she's wearing an outfit to DIE FOR!' and Kim laughed at Ron's admission.

"Have you ever **thought** about how he got that suit to fit that well, KP?" and Ron stopped for a moment to let her think.

Kim thought for a bit, her face scrunched up and still wet, and she reached up to wipe a tear from her eye to realize that Ron was already wiping her face with his handkerchief, and then she put it all together, and she glared and screamed:

"WADE!" and she turned beet-red.

"Only for your protection, KP, would he have risked your wrath and anger and loss of your friendship, did he do that," Ron calmly removed the grill from the bottom of the basket, hooked it up, and fired it up on the table.

Kim thought about Ron's statement.

"OhmyGod, Ron, he does love me!" and she broke into tears again. "He's done all of this for me, and I never realized how he felt!"

"KP, don't worry: you've paid him back in an immeasurable way," Ron grinned as he held her, and she looked up and asked,

"How?"

"Joss," was his simple reply, and Kim's sobs gradually turned into small chuckles, and then full-blown laughter.

"Who knew?" she asked herself out loud.

"She's the best thing that's happened to him, and he's the best thing that's happened to her, in a very long time, KP. Have you looked at him since you've been here? He's lost 2 or 3 sizes, slimmed down, and he's out of his room!

"I'll bet you didn't know how bad his agoraphobia was, Kim. I didn't expect him to last 3 days up here before he went back, screaming, to Middleton.

"Love conquers agoraphobia: who knew?" and Ron pulled away, held his hand above the grill, and commented to himself, "it's ready," and them reached for one of the containers.

"What's for lunch, Ron?"

"Ze specialty of ze Ranch, my Kimberly Anne: marinated Colorado buffalo strip steak, with ze special Dean Stoppable marinade and seasonings, ze baked potatoes, and, for the lovely lady, fresh made Caesar Salad with Dean's croutons," and he pulled one of the steaks out of the container and dropped it onto the grill, and the sizzle was beautiful.

- - - - - - -

"Kim, I have to ask you something," and Ron reached over to touch her hand, and she took his into hers.

"Yes?" she purred.

"The swimsuit…." And Ron' a tinge of red accented his freckles.

Ron is **so** cute when he's embarrassed, she thought.

"You can thank Rebecca Jane, Ron."

"Huh?"

"She showed me what to do so I would look like this," and she cupped. "You like?" she smirked, and Ron nodded vigorously.

"Good," she kissed his cheek.

"I like her. She's like an older sister that I never had that worships me," she commented, and Ron laughed and turned the steaks.

"She had gone shopping with Joss and found her suit that matched mine, and she showed Joss how to wear it properly," she added.

"Well, Wade won't complain about that," he laughed. "Did you see his eyes when she came out of that door?"

"Kinda like yours, Ronald Dean Stoppable," and she reached over and kissed him fully.

Ron had no response; he was busy.

He almost overcooked the steaks, but he broke away just in time.

- - - - - - -

"So, did lunch pass muster, my 'Princess'?" and Kim grimaced at that word.

"Let's put that on the list of endearments that we **won't** be using, 'Potential Boy,'" and Ron nodded.

"Right next to that one, I assume," Ron added, and Kim nodded in agreement.

"It's better than 'Sweet Tea," Ron remarked, and Kim looked at him, perplexed.

"That's Slim's nickname for Joss," he explained, and Kim grinned, "and Wade's adopted it, much to Joss' dislike; she really likes it, though, when Wade uses it, but she won't tell Wade that," Ron added.

"How would you know?"

"She and I have had a couple of long talks since I've been here, and she's explained how I'm not her 'hero' anymore," and Ron breathed a sigh of relief. "She understands what a true hero is, KP, and that's who she's hanging onto."

"Lunch was amazing, Ron. Thank you.

"We are not done, KP: you forgot dessert," and Ron reached into the basket and pulled out a final container.

"Close your eyes," and she closed them and, in a moment, heard the container pop open and then felt something touch her lips.

"Open," he requested, and she complied.

The sensation was wonderful on her lips: creamy, smooth…

"Now, bite," he requested.

She took a bite and was rewarded with the wonderful combination of a perfectly-ripened strawberry and the best chocolate that she'd ever tasted.

She opened her eyes, and Ron's smile was priceless.

"That's the reaction that I wanted, KP: Thank you."

"Reaction?" and he fed her the rest of the piece of dipped fruit.

"I wanted to see that smile, again. You've been on a roller-coaster since you've been here, and I wanted my KP back," and he flashed the goofy Ron smile.

"Oh, Ron," and she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

'wow,' was his mental whisper to himself.

- - - - - - -

"Are you happy, KP?" He asked after he finished feeding her the last of the dipped strawberries.

"Mmmm-hmmm," she purred, and he grinned.

"Good, because there's more to come," and he stood, and she got a good look at his abs.

'I have been dating a GOD!'

"It's time for madam's massage," he replied, and Tornado trotted over to the table.

"From Him?" Kim stared in shock.

"No, Mistress Kimberly," Tornado replied with a bit of a chuckle, and Ron reached for the saddlebag.

"Thank you, Tornado."

"You are quite welcome, Master Ronald. I'll leave you two alone until you call for me," and he trotted back to his spot and stood facing away from them.

"wow," Kim whispered.

"Tornado's the man…well, he's the horse!" Ron replied, and he opened up the saddlebag and pulled out a blanket which he then spread on the ground and motioned for Kim to lay down. He then reached into the other side of the saddlebag and pulled out the tanning lotion.

Kim lay on her front, her chin propped up with her hands, and smiled.

'What have I done to deserve him?' she asked herself as he began to expertly apply the tanning lotion to her back: all of it.

After 30 or so minutes, she offered to return the favor.

Ron accepted the offer.

- - - - - - -

"Ron?"

"Mmmm-hmmm?"

"I have to ask you something, and I'm embarrassed to ask," Kim was rubbing the lotion into his back and massaging him, as well.

"What is it, KP?"

"Well…

"Remember the time we switched bodies?"

"Mmmm-hmmm?" and Ron was glad that he was laying face down and that she couldn't see his face.

"How do guys, you know…walk, and deal with what you see, and not trip over yourselves all the time?" Kim blurted it out, and Ron chuckled.

"Intense concentration, and lots of practice," he replied, and Kim sprayed cold lotion on his back.

"'Little Ronnie,' indeed," she rubbed the lotion into his back.

"You obviously had to deal with that," Ron replied with an unseen grin.

'What a wedding present I'm going to get!' and she decided to add to his discomfort.

"That's why you asked about the suit, isn't it, Ron?"

"Huh?"

"You checked out the "girls" while you were me, didn't you, RON?"

"Well, I had to sleep, and I had to shower…" he trailed off, and Kim laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Ron, I love you so much," she slapped his back.

"Strange way of showing it," he replied.

"Turn on your side, Ab-Man: I want me some serious cuddling," and Kim stood from straddling him and let him turn over, and she smiled.

"Somebody liked that massage," she commented, and Ron reached up and pulled her down onto the blanket.

"Someone else did, too," he commented as he looked at her chest.

"Mmmm-hmmm," she replied as she kissed him again.

They lay together and enjoyed a longed-for period of time where there were no super-villians, no Tweebs, no garden gnomes, no parents, and no worries…just the two of them, together…as it should be, pure alone time, just cuddling.

It was glorious.

The birds flew over and looked at the couple, lying together on the ground, and continued flying.

- - - - - - -

"KP?

"Mmmm?"

"It's getting late. Wanna go to the hot tub and test out the suit?"

"RON!" and she knew why he wanted to go; she had her own reasons to go, as well….

"Ok," and she raised up and realized that, sometime during the day, he had cleaned the table and packed everything away except for the two candlesticks, now holding new candles.

"Oh, RON!" and she pulled him to his feet and kissed him fully, again.

When he finally escaped, he asked.

"What was that for?"

"You were using that mad MMP to sneak away from me and clean up so I wouldn't have to!"

"Hey!" he looked faux-hurt. "My mess, my cleanup.

"And, by the way, are you channeling Mary?" Ron grinned.

"Mary?" Kim looked at him in confusion.

"'Oh, Rob,'" he gushed, and she grinned and blushed.

"She is my hero," she replied.

"I was quite fond of her when I was younger, but I grew up and found someone so much better," Ron grazed her cheek with his lips. "Let's go and see what we've missed 'back at the Ranch,' and he laughed at his own joke as Tornado came over for their return trip home.

- - - - - - -

Kim and Ron walked back to the swimming hole to see who was still around, and they ran into a brick wall as they turned the corner….

"Wow," Kim let out a quiet exclamation.

"BonBon!" Ron called out. "Looking good, BonBon!"

Bonnie looked up from her book and smiled.

'Must be a synthrodrone,' was Kim's thought.

Ron didn't care who or what it was: she was H-O-T HOT!

Bonnie had a one-piece suit on to replace the disaster that she was wearing earlier, and to say it was flattering would be as much of an understatement as to say that Bonnie could be unpleasant on the rare occasion.

The suit was strikingly white, contrasting perfectly with her tanned body, and the suit were framed in black edging. It was a halter, of which Ron approved whole-heartedly, and it was cut to accent her legs.

Bonnie put her book down, stood, and walked over to them.

"Kim, that suit is PERFECT on you," and Bonnie hugged her.

'Yep: synthrodrone,' was Kim's thought.

"BonBon, you are smokin'!" Ron appraised the suit and the body, and he laughed as he walked around her.

"Whose hand?" he smirked at the handprint on the suit positioned perfectly on her rear.

"Not yours, Ron: You're spoken for," she grinned as she backed away from Kim. "But, thank you for the compliment, Ron."

"Checking for moodulator chips, Kim," came from Ron as he moved Bonnie's hair away from her neck.

"I'm fine, Kim, I've just had a wonderful day with Rebecca Jane," Bonnie volunteered.

"What?"

"Rebecca Jane. She ran after me, and we had a long talk about her, what she used to be like, and me and what I wanted to be.

"I can't change everything overnight, especially my family," and Bonnie had a quick flinch that only Ron noticed, and he made a mental note to talk to RJ in the coming days, "but I can thank you and your family for inviting us here, and I wanted to apologize for my behavior when I arrived," she added.

"There's something in the water here," Kim said softly to herself.

"No Big, Bonnie. I've just never seen you this happy before; well not unless I was not able to cheer."

"I'm going to try, Kim; I'd appreciate it if you'd just be patient with me when I backslide occasionally," she grinned.

"We're heading to the hot tub," Kim explained.

"I'm going back to my book," Bonnie replied. "Later, Kim," and she turned and walked back to the lounge chair, and Kim stifled her laugh at Bonnie's handprint.

Bonnie stopped and turned back to Kim.

"O, Kim?"

"Yes, Bonnie?"

"Tell Wade "Thank you," for me, will you? From what I hear, I'm not the only one who owes him big time."

"O…K…Bonnie."

"And, Kim?" Bonne started a smirk, then changed it back to a smile.

"Yes, Bonnie?"

"I'm still so gonna kick your ass in cheer practice this year," she smiled sweetly, but with none of the BonBon attitude.

"Bring it on, Bonnie," Kim replied with a smile, and she and Ron headed for the hot tub and Bonnie sat back in her lounge. Ron tried to sneak a final look, but Kim caught him and slapped the back of his head.

- - - - - - -

"Well, that was strange," Kim commented as she slipped into the hot tub, followed by Ron on the other side.

"Indeed, but don't worry about it, KP: let's enjoy the rest of the afternoon," and Ron moved over next to her and kissed her cheek.

"Less talkee, more snuggle-ee," was the motto of the remainder of the afternoon.

- - - - - - -

Wade was walking towards the bunker when he saw Kim kiss Ron, wave to him, and walk into the wing where her room was.

"Ron!" and Ron turned and saw Wade.

"Wade! Compadre!" and Ron walked over to him, glazed grin on his face.

"Ron? Are you OK?"

"Perfect, Wade. Kim, the suit, lunch…I could get lost in red hair for days…" then he looked at Wade and grinned.

"How was your day?" he smirked.

"I love tankinis, red hair, tanning lotion…" was his only reply as they headed to their rooms.

"We are two very lucky guys, Ron."

"That, we are, Wade; that, we are." Ron concurred.

- - - - - - -

Intermezzo 4 fin.


	6. Intermezzo 5: My ‘Gal’etea

Blue Eyes, Shining - Intermezzo 5: My 'Gal'etea

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. The original lyrics to the song referenced in this story and the music are the property of the respective author, artists and labels. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

Please refer to chapter 1 of Blue Eyes, Shining: Intermezzi if you have questions regarding this concept.

Enjoy! Please read and review.

- - - - - - -

Intermezzo 5: My 'Gal'etea

Story: begins during Blue Eyes, Shining

Time stamp: this series of events occurred during chapter 9, on day 19

When: Starting in the mid-morning

- - - - - - -

'Why did I come?'

Justine Flanner asked herself the same question for the 23rd time.

'I could have been in the lab this entire time; instead, I took Kimberly up on her invitation to come up here.

"Mom wanted me out of the house: she said I hadn't spent any time anywhere except at school and the labs in a long time, and she was right: she just didn't know that that **was** my life, besides her and the family.

'I didn't know that this would be a cheer-fest.

'I feel as out of place as an electron in a nucleus.'

I walked around all of the swimsuit-clad cheerleaders and ranch workers, most lounging on blankets and lounge chairs, and they all were disgustingly attractive,

'And, even worse, **he's** here!'

'I'm getting out of here before I run into him and make a fool out of myself,' and as she turned and headed for her car a voice called her name.

"Justine Flanner! Hey, Ah'm shore glad you came; Ah thought you didn't make it 'cause Ah hadn't seen you,' and I turned to see a girl who had to be related to Kimberly.

"Ah'm Joss Possible, Kim's cousin" the redhead announced, and stuck her hand out to shake mine. "Your kinematic continuum disruptor device rocked!" Joss added.

"You know about the continuum distruptor?" I was surprised as I shook her hand; this girl could be no more than 13 or 14.

"Shore," Joss replied. "Ah keep up with all of Cousin Kim's adventures, and Daddy liked your paper, so he passed it on to me to read,"

"Daddy?"

"That'd be me, Ms. Flanner: Slim Possible, at your service," and Slim took my hand and kissed it, turning me, the usually-unflappable Justine Flanner, a deep red, or at least that's what it felt like when my face heated up. "It's a pleasure to meet you, finally."

"Justine!" and Kimberly came running out of the main house, smiling as always.

I hated her constant perkiness.

I hated her, period.

"I'm so glad you came!"

"I was here yesterday, Kimberly," I responded dryly, and she looked a little embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, Justine, I was a little busy yesterday, and-" I waved her quiet.

"I was there at Dr. Load's party, Kimberly, and I saw it all, including your apology to him. Very touching," I said sarcastically.

"I meant every word of it, Justine," Kimberly said, looking more than a bit embarrassed. "I've not been fair with Wade, and that stopped with the apology.

"Is that why you wanted me to come, Kimberly? To witness the great Kim Possible apologize to Dr. Load?" I asked her after I walked away from Slim and his daughter, and she followed me.

"No, Justine," and she grabbed my arm. "I wanted to talk to you, away from everyone else," she added.

"Why? So you wouldn't be seen with me?"

"NO! I wanted to get us away from the distractions of school and missions and labs, and I wanted to clear the air between us before we started school and we both got too busy," and I realized that she had pulled me to the Bunker and inside to an elevator door. The door was open, and she drug me in and hit a button.

"And, I wanted to find out what happened to the friend I used to have and admire and want to be like before she got the corn cob stuck up her ass," Kimberly added as we exited the elevator on level 4 below ground, and the door opened to reveal a waiting area with sets of couches strategically arranged to facilitate conversation, and a coffee and drink bar.

"Corn cob, Kimberly? Now, I have a reason to be very upset, Kimberly." I sat on the arm of one of the couches.

"And, what's with the formal talk, Justine?" Kimberly asked, sitting across from me on another couch arm. "You were never this formal, before."

I ignored her last comment.

"If you don't like the way I talk, Kimberly, than that's just tough!" I yelled at her, and she smiled?

"Do I have to get you more pissed off before you tell me what's been bothering you all these years, Justine?" Kimberly asked softly, and I couldn't tell her.

I didn't want to tell her.

I was embarrassed.

I was…

I told her.

"I WAS IN LOVE WITH RONALD DEAN STOPPABLE, AND YOU TOOK HIM AWAY FROM ME, ALRIGHT?" and then I lost it for the first time in a public place in a long time, and I ran and opened the door marked 'workout room.'

I found my refuge: a punching bag, and I started punching it and crying at the same time:

"I HATE YOU, KIMBERLY POSSIBLE!"

WHAM, WHAM!

"I HATE YOU, KIMBERLY POSSIBLE!"

WHAM, WHAM!

"I HATE YOU, KIMBERLY POSSIBLE!"

WHAM, WHAM!

"I HATE YOU, KIMBERLY POSSIBLE!"

WHAM, WHAM!

"I HATE YOU, KIMBERLY POSSIBLE!"

WHAM, WHAM!

"I HATE YOU, KIMBERLY POSSIBLE!"

WHAM, WHAM!

"Justine," and I turned around to hit whoever was touching me, and it was Kimberly, again.

I couldn't take her, anymore.

I cried harder than I did that night, after I finally admitted to myself that he would never be mine.

I stood there, crying like an idiot, and she did the last thing that I wanted her to do and the first thing that I knew she would do:

She hugged me.

I liked it.

-----

Before you assume (and you know what that means, don't you?): I'm neither an asexual person, nor am I a gender-confused girl-scientist, nor am I an unattractive sexually-ambiguous geek, OK?

Now that that's clear….

-----

I liked the way she felt, the way she smelled, she used the same shampoo that I did: Strawberries and Mint Fields Forever.

"We use the same shampoo," Kimberly said into my head.

"Did you ever wonder why Ronald likes it so much, Kimberly?" and she tensed as I grinned.

The great Kim Possible is an information freak, and this was a piece she'd never had.

She let me go, and stared at me like I had two or three heads.

"You…were in love …with Ron?" and I nodded, reaching for my purse that I'd left somewhere.

"When?"

"Five years ago, before you started your 'mission work,'" and I laughed at my joke.

Kimberly didn't get it.

Ronald would have.

"You were too exciting for me to compete with, and Ronald just naturally gravitated to you and left me standing on the school front steps, so to speak," 'and I'll never find another one like him. OH, RONALD, MY RONALD!'

"Did you ever tell him, Justine?"

"Tell Ronald Stoppable, the most handsome man I'd ever known, that I was in love with him back when I was 12? I'm a genius, Kimberly, not an idiot!" and Kimberly laughed at me!

"I'm sorry, Justine," when she finally stopped laughing (and just before I was about to get up and leave), "but I've never heard those words come out of any other girl's mouth but mine and one other, and that one was just a few days ago: Ron Stoppable, and Handsome."

"Can we help it if we have truly exquisite taste in men, Kimberly?" and we both laughed at that statement, because we both knew what the rest of the world was missing:

Ronald Stoppable was a good man, and good men are hard to find at any age.

"I'll let you in on a secret, Justine," and she leaned closer to me. "Shego thinks he's hot, too!"

"The green woman who works for Doctor Drakken? Thinks our Ronald is hot? Does Ronald know?" I was trying to imagine Ronald with her, and I was successfully stifling my laughter.

"Yes, he does, and he's scared of her," Kimberly answered, and I nodded approvingly.

"He's not thrilled about being toasted if he gets her mad, is he?" I asked, and Kimberly got a very strange look on her face.

"She offered him 'something' one time, if you get my drift," Kimberly winked, "and he said he didn't want it burned off or turned to ashes," and we both laughed even harder.

"Well, at least she has good taste in men; that's more than I can for her taste in bosses," I smirked, and Kimberly and I laughed, again.

"Justine, I have to know: how long were you two an item?"

"Kimberly, we were never an item. You were his best friend, I was just a girl who liked him, and you know how sweet Ronald is: he took me to the movies twice, and we had pizza twice, and then you got involved with the babysitting web site and took Ronald along, and I never went out with him again: he was always too busy.

"Kimberly, I still have the movie ticket stubs from my 'dates,' if you could call them that, with Ronald. I could never bring myself to throw them away.

"I hoped, for two months, that Ronald would see the error of his ways and come back to me, but that was not going to happen; that's when I, as you so eloquently put it, 'got the corncob stuck up my ass.'

"You had it all, Kimberly: brains, beauty, a figure to die for, and my Ronald. I had the brains, but I was not beautiful by any stretch of the imagination, I had no figure (in fact, the jocks called me 'the girl with the anti-figure'), and I had no Ronald, so I moved forward with my books: they were the only ones to never desert me.

"Kim, even you deserted me, back in elementary school: we used to play and tease the boys and push Bonnie Rockwaller over the edge, but you went to cheerleading and left me behind," and, darn it, I started to cry again!

I hated that.

"I've missed you too, Kimberly. That's why I acted the way I did when Barkin assigned us to work together. I had to show you and myself that I could do it alone, that I didn't need anybody: not you, not Ronald, not anyone!

"And, what happens?" and now, I was really leaking. "You and Ronald and Monique save me and the entire town from that dinosaur that Amy and Drakken released.

"How can I compete with you, Kimberly?" and now I was gone, and I sobbed into my hands like a little girl.

"Justine," she had put her arm around me, "you better than anyone else would understand the laws of probability.

"I knew Ron from Pre-K; we'd been friends since then. The odds were heavily stacked in my favor that Ron was always gonna be around me. You should ask my parents: the boy has practically lived at our house ever since he discovered Mom's 'Brain Loaf.'

"Ron is that side of me that I never show people: that side that cares and worries about everyone's feelings, including Bonnie's," and her name caused me to suck air and think of the ways I could have used that dinosaur.

"I knew Ron liked me, and I knew we were best friends, but I never knew that he loved me until the Diablos," she said it in such a soft and dreamy voice, and her confession was a knife twisted into my heart.

I lowered my head a bit: 'Good-bye, Ronald. I'll miss you,' and I shed tears of loss.

"But, Justine, you're not the lost cause you think you are!" and I looked up at her in disbelief.

"You're brilliant: you took a chance on my plan to use the Kimmunicator batteries, and we made the disruptor work. I followed your lead, and we succeeded."

"No, Kim, I followed your lead, remember? I was scared out of my wits when I saw that dinosaur, remember? I didn't even recognize the species. You took charge, and together we succeeded."

"That's what I mean, Justine: you won't even take credit for your own invention. You are brilliant, you have a wonderful sense of humor, you're attractive, and-."

"Hold on, Kimberly: I don't go that way," and I laughed, and she looked shocked for a moment, then laughed along with me.

"Neither do I, but I can see the pretty girl underneath all of these protective shells and barriers that you've thrown up over the last five years, Justine, and she's dying to come out, so to speak," and we both chuckled..

"Ron would beg you to forgive if he knew that he'd ever hurt you in any way, Justine-"

"NO! DON'T TELL RONALD, PLEASE!"

"-and I won't tell him because you **are** my friend; or, at least, I hope you'll let me back in. Granted, I left you, but I won't ever do that again, Justine. I've seen far too much, since the Diablos, in the past few weeks to ever allow me to ever take a friend, or anyone, for granted, ever again," and a very sad look landed on Kimberly's face. She wasn't going to tell me, now, but I'd find out, one way or the other.

"You were the last person that I needed to talk to, Justine, because I had no idea how I had vexed you so to cause you to hate me."

"Kimberly, I never hated you: I wanted to be you!" 'liar.'

"And, I wanted to be you, Justine," Kimberly stated with authority, and now I knew she was crazy.

"WHY?"

"Because, Justine, you had all of those people paying attention to you for what you knew, not for what you looked like or what you did. I'd have killed to be recognized for my brains. I went so deep into all of these things because I knew I could never compete with you, and I knew how much it would have made Daddy proud of me if I was doing what you were doing," and Kimberly burst into tears.

'Now, I am officially in shock.'

"You didn't know, did you, Justine: I'm a real Daddy's girl. I do what I do, and Daddy's proud of me, but he sees you on television, and I can't help but see a bit of longing in his eyes, like he was saying 'what if….' It's the same look that he gives Dr. Porter: he loves me, don't get me wrong, but I know he wishes sometimes that I was just like you."

"Kim, you don't know how lucky you are to still have a dad. Mine left Mom and me and my younger brother and sister four years ago, and I've been bringing home money from my conferences and inventions to help Mom out with our family bills.

"We haven't seen or heard from him since, so don't tell me how hard you have it!

"You have the perfect family, the perfect house. Even your cousin who looks like you has it all," and Kimberly held up her hand and looked like she was going to hit me.

"Justine, you really don't know what you're talking about, now," and her voice had gone icier than I'd ever heard her before.

"Joss doesn't have a mother any more: she was killed when she was three years old," Kimberly said with an almost-acid flat tone in her voice, and that bomb shattered all of the hate I'd been accumulating over the past 5 years.

I just sat there, looking like one of the freshmen who had wandered into my graduate-level seminar and sat down: deer in the headlights, and the 18-wheel trucks were coming straight at me at 200 kph and accelerating.

"Kim, I'm sorry, I didn't know," I whispered, and this time I was serious.

"And, you also didn't know that Joss was forced to lay in the same cell with her dead mother for weeks before she was rescued," Kimberly added in the same tone, and she speared me through the heart, this time, and the heart came all the way out the other side.

I cried for Joss Possible, and Kimberly joined me, and we hugged away our pain, my pain, her pain.

"What can I do to help her?" I asked, and Kimberly looked shocked and surprised and happy, all simultaneously.

"An autograph would be a good start, Miss 'Famous Scientist that I'll Never Be,'" and Kimberly and I both laughed.

"And, allow me to help you, Justine," she added. "Let me take you into town with Monique, and let us spend some time with you: her MSS are NTBB!"

"Mad…shopping…skills…not…to…be…believed, right?" I translated the acronym, and Kimberly grinned.

"See: you can speak 'Mon,' and she'll love you forever, and you'll love Club Banana," Kimberly gushed, and she stood up and pulled me up, as well.

"Ever since Dad ran away, I've always shopped at J-Store," and Kimberly visibly shuddered.

"Girl, even Ron can show you stuff at Smarty Mart for a better price and quality that you'll get at the J-Dog," Kimberly chuckled, and I laughed. She flipped on her Kimmunicator and called Monique.

"Mon? Kim. Fashion 911! Five minutes, in front of the Bunker! I need your MSS."

"Kim! No problem, but what happened?"

"I found something that was lost, Mon: a friend that I'd misplaced, I hope, has come back," and Kimberly smiled as I nodded as Mon broke the connection.

"Kimberly, you have to tell me one thing," I said in a calmer voice. I didn't hate her, anymore, but I had to know….

"What's that, Justine?"

"About Ronald: Big Ears, and…?" and she looked shocked, then grinned a very wicked grin and nodded vigorously.

"I found that out when we exchanged bodies," and she opened the door as I stared at her.

"Exchanged bodies? Like, switched brains?" and she nodded as I went thru the door. "That's impossible, Kim!"

"'Check my name,' Ms. Flanner," and she giggled as we stepped into the elevator.

"Oh, and by the way: someone has a huge crush on you," she said matter-of-factly, and I almost teleported to the surface.

"WHO?"

"Mike Cotton."

"As in 'Big Mike?'"

"The very same," she replied as the elevator door opened. "He told me when I was in detention that time: he thinks, in his words, 'Brainy is sooo cute!'"

Now, I have a 5-proton hydrogen atom, and someone thinks I'm cute? Can't be happening, Flanner.

Monique was outside the door with a drop-dead gorgeous older girl that I thought I'd seen here before.

"Justine!" Monique squealed, and she ran up and hugged me.

"Monique," I responded tentatively. I wasn't used to all these hugs.

"Justine, this is Rebecca Jane Casey; Rebecca Jane, this is Justine Flanner, my friend," and as Kimberly introduced us, I felt better just to hear those words 'my friend.' "Rebecca Jane was responsible for Joss' swimsuit that she had on yesterday as well as and the new suit that Bonnie's been showing off," and Ms. Casey smiled and then grinned wickedly.

"Can you do that for me?" I asked eagerly. I never thought about my looks before, mainly because I never considered anyone except Ronald as even a remote possibility. Ms. Casey grinned even bigger.

"Oh, most definitely, Ms. Flanner."

"Justine."

"Justine," she repeated as we got into a car, and she got behind the drivers' seat.

"Hand on, Justine: you're in for the ride of your life," and Rebecca Jane gunned it, and we burned rubber on dirt: a feat in itself.

'I'm hanging on, Rebecca Jane, and I'm ready.'

-----

I just stepped out of the car when we returned from my all-day pampering (that's what it turned out to be, and darn it: I enjoyed it immensely!), and Ronald turned the corner and ran into me, almost knocking me down.

"I'm sorry, miss, are you hurt?" and I shook my head no.

"Well, then, you must be an angel, because you surely must have fallen from Heaven," Ronald was smooth, and all three of them (Kim, Monique, and Rebecca Jane) were holding their mouths to keep from laughing.

"Who did I have the extreme pleasure of bumping into?" Ronald reached down, took my hand, and kissed it. I giggled, and that gave me away.

"Justine!?" I nodded, and Ronald smiled real big!

"Justine, I didn't recognize you: you look smokin' good!"

"Why, thank you, Ronald," I replied with a bit of a smile.

"KP, no offense, but would you be very upset if I had dinner with an old friend instead of you, tonight?"

"No, Ron, as long as Justine doesn't mind," and I shook my head no.

"How about dinner at 6:30 tonight, Justine?" I nodded.

"Good: I'll meet you right here at 6:30, OK? I'll cook something special for us," and Ronald kissed my hand again and trotted off, whistling.

"Kim, are you sure you want to keep him? I'll take him off your hands for another disruptor, and I'll even make this one portable. The man makes me speechless!"

"Nice try, Justine, but I already tried with Ron and struck out," Rebecca Jane stated sadly, then grinned broadly. "But, if he's cooking for you, you must be someone special, so you might just have a chance," which resulted in Kim's comment:

"HEY: NO TOUCHEE MY BOYFRIEND!"

Monique laughed at her as we all headed upstairs to store my loot.

-----

I came to the spot outside where I was to meet Ronald , and there was a sign pointing to a door in the main building and flower petals making a path to that door.

I followed the petals, thinking how lucky Kimberly was to have won Ronald , and I started to tear up a bit, but I held up and didn't do it.

I pulled open the door, and there was my dream dinner table come to life:

A small, round table for two, an ivory-white, perfectly starched linen tablecloth on top, and two of each: tall, white candles flickering, and long-stemmed red roses, one in each bud vase. I walked over the table and leaned over, smelling the roses: freshly-picked.

"Excuse me, but this room is reser-Justine?" Ronald was more than a little surprised, and he smiled really big..

I was wearing a navy satin halter dress that Rebecca Jane has picked over my objections, and it contrasted perfectly with my pale skin and showed off more skin than I ever had shown before with the V-neckline. My 'girls' were enhanced with the extra built-in support in the dress. I wore a pair of navy 2-inch pumps and navy sheer hose, and I felt like a princess must have felt.

"Good evening, Ronald."

"Justine: you look magnificent," and he KISSED ME ON THE CHEEK! RONAND DEAN STOPPABLE KISSED ME! "That dress is so beautiful, but not as beautiful as the person wearing it."

"Thank you, Ronald, but I'm nobody special," and Ronald stared at me and took my face in his hands and stared at me!

"Justine," he almost growled, "note the serious face: you are most definitely somebody special. I don't waste my time with nobodies, and I definitely don't spend my time with people who aren't special. Therefore, by definition, you fit two categories, which makes you doubly special in my book," and he KISSED MY NOSE!

"So, Madam Flannery of the special house of Ron's friends, shall we dine?" and he released my face, put his arm around my waist, and guided me the two steps to the table, pulled my chair out for me, and placed my napkin in my lap.

"Watch it, big boy," I teased him, and he grinned and walked briskly into the kitchen.

DID I JUST MAKE A PASS AT RONALD STOPPABLE?

He returned with a rolling cart piled high with covered dishes and containers, pulling it up next to the table.

"I hope you don't mind: I wanted to spend as much time with you as I could, so I prepared the dinner to be served from the cart."

"No, Ronald, I don't mind at all," and I smiled.

I SMILED?

"Justine, you are the only person besides my mother who calls me Ronald and can have it sound like music; you know you always could do that," and he placed a soup bowl in both places and uncovered the soup tureen.

"Tonight's soup is not BellCam's chicken noodle," and I grinned. "We have a lightly-seasoned seafood medley, containing shrimp, scallops, crab, and lobster in a freshly-made seafood broth with cilantro, green onions, and a hint of chives," and we began my night of magic.

-----

The meal was fantastic.

The dinner company made the meal look like school cafeteria no-cheese cheese pizza.

Ronald was charming, witty, funny…all of the things that I remembered about him from those two 'dates.'

So, why wasn't I mad that I wasn't spending the night with him?

Yes, I, Justine Flanner, who'd only dated one boy in her entire life, was ready to spend tonight and all of eternity with this man.

We talked about everything under the sun, literally: from High School to the days at Elementary and Middle Schools, from Bonnie ("Justine, she has soo changed, and for the better!") to Kimberly ("I don't know, Justine, after the prom I was so hooked on Kim; it's only gotten better since then, and I didn't think that was possible." "Check her name, Ronald," and we laughed together), to Connie from elementary school ("You remember her: she had the neck brace, and she was so tall." "Ronald, she was tall because she was wearing the back and neck brace, and she was forced to stand up straight, not slouch like most fifth graders!" "oh."), to Rufus ("How long can I expect him to live, Justine?" "Ronald, he's already off the charts, so I have no idea." "Can't you just make a new chart for him?").

He told me about Wade, and his struggles with agoraphobia, and how proud he was that Wade was still here, and how Wade had fallen, hard, for Jocelyn. I told him a story about Wade in one of my classes, and Ronald laughed heartily. Then, he told me some of what Wade went thru with the Diablos. We drank a toast to Wade with white sparkling grape juice.

Ronald told me part of Joss' story, and I cried with him. We then drank a toast to innocence lost.

I had so much fun that my smile muscles started to hurt.

-----

It was 10:15 before Ronald walked me out of the dining room, and the sky was clear and the moon was full.

"Justine, I'll say it again: you look ravishing," and he kissed my cheek again.

"You deserved someone so much better than me," he said sadly, and I wanted to slap him and kiss him.

"What do you mean, so much better than you? Ronald Dean Stoppable, you are the man of my dreams: what could be better than that?"

"Someone who wouldn't dump you after two dates because his best friend was jealous of you," he said, and he lowered his head.

"Kimberly … was jealous … of me?" I shook my head several times to make sure that no circuits were broken.

"Yes, Justine; remember, we were 12, and you were my first date ever, and Kim had wanted that to be her. When I told her that we had gone to a movie, she cried. When I told her that we were going out again, she got mad. She told me that it was 'your best friend forever, or Justine,' and I had to make a choice after that date," and I was mad at Kimberly, age 12, but no longer mad at this Kimberly, and felt sorry for Ronald, age 12, and cared about this Ronald.

"I knew that you were coming up, and I had hoped that I would see you, Justine, so I could give you this," and he smiled as he handed me a small book.

I opened the cover, and laminated inside were his two movie tickets and the receipts from our pizza dinners.

Ronald Dean Stoppable could always make me cry, and I almost started, then.

"I wanted you to know how special you were to me, Justine, and you will always be that special. You were my first date, ever, and no one can take that away from you or me. When every other girl ignored me or laughed at me, you took a chance. I took that same chance with Kim, and now we're a couple.

"I'll do anything and everything I can to help you find 'your Ronald,' Justine," and he kissed me on the nose, again.

"Thank you for having faith in me, Justine," and he turned and took a step, but I stopped him.

"Ronald!" I yelled, and he turned around.

"I will always remember you, Ronald. And, I'll always remember tonight: this has been the most special night in my life."

"A special night for a very special lady," and he came back and held out his hand.

"Care for a late night stroll, milady?" and I took his hand.

"What do you know about Mike Cotton?" I asked him as we began to walk.

"You mean, besides the fact that he has the extreme hots for you, Justine?" and I looked at him in surprise: Kimberly was right?

"Does everybody know this except me?"

"Well, the incoming freshman don't know it, yet, but they haven't been on campus for longer than two-three hours for pre-registration," and Ronald grinned his dreamy, goofy grin.

I loved that grin: it was the grin of a new day dawning for Justine Flanner.

-----

"Bonnie!" I called out as I walked towards the swimming hole. Bonnie looked over the top of her book.

"Justine? When did you get here?" and she jumped up and hugged me.

Bonnie? Hugging?

"I've been here a couple of days.

"Wow, Bonnie, that swimsuit sure looks great on you."

"You think so, Justine? Thanks," and she smiled.

It must be a synthodrone, like Dr. Drakken used on Kimberly.

"Yours looks great, too, Justine. That mesh dress shows just enough of your swimsuit to get attention," and she pointed to the group of guys that were watching me and giving me the thumb's up!

That's it, they must all be synthodrones.

And then we both had the same thought:

"Rebecca Jane!" and we both laughed as we sat down to really talk to each other for the first time since third grade.

-----

I stayed another week, and I had the time of my life, but Stockholm was beckoning.

I had already thanked Monique and Rebecca Jane.

Now, it was time for Ronald, my Ronald…but no longer My Ronald: he belongs to someone else, now.

He and Kimberly were standing by my car, waiting.

It was time.

"You're leaving early," Kimberly pouted. I laughed.

"Yes, I have a quick experiment to check, then a conference in Stockholm, but somewhere I need to stop by Mike's house and deliver something," and I smiling.

I seemed to have been doing that a lot, lately: smiling.

"Oh, really?" Kimberly smirked. "And what would that be, Justine?"

"Oh, just a message, Kimberly," and I smiled, and Ronald gulped.

"We've created a monster, Kim. Run like the wind, Big Mike! Run, be free!" and he and Kimberly both laughed along with me.

"Kimberly, thank you."

"Awww, Justine, 'No Big.'"

"It was Big, Kimberly: really, really Big. We're talking real-time cold fusion big," I responded, and I did the last thing that she expected me to have done when I got here, and what I wanted to do:

I hugged Kimberly Ann Possible, and she hugged me back.

"Same shampoo," we both said.

"Jinx! You both owe me a kiss!" Ronald was feeling bold, so we each kissed a cheek, and laughed as he feigned falling down in shock.

"The Ron-Man has the ladies in a tiz-zie!" he said, and Kimberly giggled.

"I'll leave you two alone, Justine. See you in school, and good luck with the conference," and Kimberly turned and walked away.

I noticed that Ronald was enjoying watching Kimberly walk away a bit too much.

"Ronald!" and he turned back to face me, his dreamy, goofy look back on his face.

I loved that look, and I always will.

"Ronald, thank you for the best night of my life," I told him, and I was sincere.

"I feel like I've just been Pygmalion'ed."

"What do pigs have to do with it, Justine?" He asked.

I looked at him in shock, then laughed when he winked at me.

"I was thinking of the more modern version: 'My Fair Lady,'" he said as he reached over and kissed my cheek.

"You are, and you shall always be, 'My Fair Lady,' Justine. I was no Rex Harrison, but I thought back then that you were way prettier than Julie Andrews."

"Oh, Ronald," and I hugged him for that.

"It's true, Justine, because you gave me the courage and confidence to finally go and be with Kim, even when it hurt you."

"I really didn't plan that, Ronald."

"I know, Justine, but that's what it felt like to me.

"Thank you, Justine," and he kissed my cheek again, then pulled back, smiled, and hugged me tight.

It was just wonderful, but it felt different, now.

"I'm telling," a familiar voice came out, and we separated and I turned to see-

"Leaving so soon, Justine?" Wade grinned, and came over and stood, looking me over.

"Thanks for treating Joss so well, Justine. That means a lot to me."

"I know, Wade, and you're welcome," and I kissed the top of his head.

"Judging from your clothes and your smile, you're a lot better than you were when you got of the car, days ago."

"'Once again, Dr. Load, you are correct,'" I quoted the class response, and we both laughed. "How about you, Wade?"

"Hey: I'm not in jail, so that's a good thing," he responded, and I took that comment and got in my car and closed the door, rolling my window down after I started the car.

Ronald leaned over thru the car window, turned my face to his, and

RONALD DEAN STOPPABLE KISSED ME ON THE LIPS!

It was just a brush, but it was wonderful. Another dream to store, and I envied Kim: she would have so many more of those kisses to come.

"Bye, Justine. Have a safe trip to Stockholm, but stay away from the meat cakes!"

"Why?"

"I have **no** idea!" and he pulled back and waved as I raised the window.

He mouthed 'Thank You,' and I mouthed 'Be Well, Ronald,' and he clutched his heart and grinned his goofy grin.

I pulled out of the ranch parking area and headed forward to Middleton.

-----

I didn't get to Mike's house until I got back from Stockholm: Mom was so happy to see me that she made me sit down and tell her everything that happened. My little brother and sister were both ecstatic that I brought them autographed pictures of Team Possible, all in one picture and individuals. I had a lot of time to think about everything that happened to and from Stockholm, and I received rave reviews of my new attire there.

Oh, and by the way: the conference went extremely well, and I was invited back for next year.

-----

Just before school started, I drove over to Mike's house with my message.

I knocked on the door, and Mike came to the door.

"Hey, Justine," he said in his quiet voice as he came outside and closed the door behind him.

"What brings you here?"

"I didn't know, Mike," and I grinned, "and I wanted to give you these two things before school started," and I handed him the package.

"That's just one," he said softly, and he looked confused.

"And this," and I jumped up and kissed his cheek.

"I think you're cute, too," and I ran back to my car and got in, closing the door.

I looked thru the windshield at Mike: he was standing there, a big grin on his very red face, reaching his hand up to just barely touch the spot where I kissed him. He looked up, waved, then opened the package and pulled out the contents.

The one on top turned his face even redder, and his grin got even bigger, and he gave me a 'Big Mike' thumbs-up.

'Gotcha!' I thought as I backed the car into the street and headed home.

-----

Intermezzo 5 fin.


	7. Intermezzo 6: Memories

Blue Eyes, Shining - Intermezzo 6: Memories

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

Enjoy! Please read and review.

- - - - - - -

Intermezzo 6: Memories

Story: during Always, Love

Time stamp: this series of events occurred the Saturday after chapter 8…

When: Saturday afternoon

- - - - - - -

"Mr. Dr. P: who's Carol?" Ronald Stoppable, my daughter's boyfriend and soon to be fiancée, was helping me move some boxes form the garage, and a picture had fallen out of one of them.

"She's an old friend, Ron. Why?"

"Because she's hotter than BonBon, Mr. Dr. P," I grinned.

"When did you know her?"

I took the picture and looked at it, then turned it over and grinned.

"Ron, this was taken when she was 13, not 18," I replied, and Ron's eyes bugged out.

"If it wasn't for what we've already talked about, Ronald," I glared at him.

"Yea, I know: Black Hole Deep, I remember," he laughed, and I couldn't hold the glare and joined him in the laugh.

"Whatever happened to her?" and I felt a miniature pain in my heart, but it went away…

"Ron, grab that last box, take it into my study, then join me in the kitchen, and I'll tell you what happened to Carol," I promised, and he grabbed the two remaining boxes and almost ran into the house.

'It's been a long time, Carol, since I'd thought about you,' I looked at the picture of two 13-year-olds, one tall and geeky and the other beautiful, placed it carefully it into my shirt pocket, and headed into the kitchen for some Short Neck Root Beers.

- - - - - - -

I popped two tops, handed one to Ron, and clicked bottles.

"To old flames," I drank and put my bottle down.

I had Ronald's attention, and I pulled the picture out of my pocket and handed it to him.

"Ron, the last time that I heard from Carol was while I was a senior in college," I began….

- - - - - - -

(James T. Possible)

Bzzzzt.

My buzzer sounded. This was back in the days when not every dorm room was wired (the mid-80s; only a few were wired, and you had to pay for that, so no wiring in mine, thank you very much!), so buzzers sounded when you had a phone call at the front desk.

Bzzzzt.

I groaned, turned over, and looked at the clock: 10:20 AM. This was way too early to get up on a Thursday. I rolled back over, put my pillow over my head and went back to sleep.

I didn't hear the third buzz.

--------

Later that morning, after I'd finally gotten up and taken a cold shower (no hot water by this time of day), I went to the lobby. The message board read Possible, so I went to the desk and picked up the message.

I was to call an operator and a number. I knew, from the area code, that the number wasn't in the States, but I had no idea where it was. Also, I thought I remembered that all area codes were three digits: this one had two, I think.

I had some time before my 1:00 class, so I picked up the message (wrote the numbers off the message board: we're talking college, remember: no paper and expenses for students…), and went to the payphone next to the exit doors to the campus main. I dropped in the quarter and dialed "0."

A voice came back after three rings.

"Operator."

"Yes, Operator 23, please."

"Just a minute, please," and I heard her dialing in the background.

"Overseas Operator," now, THAT got my attention! Overseas?

"Yes, I'd like to place a collect call to," and I gave her the number and my name.

"One moment, please," and I chuckled: the twang in her voice gave her away: New England, I thought.

I could hear the relays clicking (remember, 1980s). I had no idea who I was calling.

Ring.

Silence.

Ring.

Click.

"Guten Abend," a male voice, maybe early 20s, answered in…German?

"Auf English, bitte. I have a collect call from a James Possible in Middleton, Colorado. Will you accept the charges?"

"Yes, of course!" the voice sounded very excited. "Hello, James? James?"

"Yes, this is James. Who is this?"

"It's Joel Claremore, James. Remember me?"

"Joel, you old son-of-a-gun, what are you doing calling me here?"

My mind rushed. I hadn't heard from or seen Joel since elementary school in Denver. We were the top two students in our class, and always competing over every class award. At that time, he was about four foot ten, skinny with short-cropped black hair, black-rimmed glasses that framed large, excited eyes, and a devilish grin (Even for a 12-year-old).

"I'm working now, and a couple of days ago I ran into an old friend of yours, someone I knew you'd want to talk to."

"Who?" I was puzzled. Claremore was in Austria, Germany or Switzerland, I assumed from the language of the operator. I only knew one person over there, and he didn't know Sabina.

"I'll let you figure it out for yourself. Hold on," he laughed as he moved the phone away from his mouth, and I could here him laugh. No, two laughs, and a hand grabbing the receiver.

"Hello, James. How are you?" A definitely feminine voice, very soft and low and seductive: every guy's dream voice.

"Yes?" real sharp retort, I know, but I sounded confused. I had a very good reason: I **was** confused. Who was this creature?

"James Timothy Possible, if you don't know who this is…" her voice sounded pained; she obviously expected me to remember her? I racked my brain" no luck.

"Give me a hint?" I pouted, and she giggled. Now, she sounded familiar: I remember that giggle…

"Do you remember the time that you and I were at my house, doing 'research,' and Day-u-dhe came in on us? He threatened you to strap you to a Titan booster…"

"Carol!" Now, I remembered.

"That's better," she replied, sounding relived.

I had told myself I'd never forget that voice. Oh, well, we sometimes fail to remember…Carol….

I hadn't seen her in four years.

I remembered….

--------

Even at 14, Carol was a vision, so very beautiful. She had the perfect build, with long black hair that curled at about the middle of her back. A beautiful girl, a perfect figure, and so very intelligent: she was my dream girl, back then. Her eyes: they could light up your world or destroy it with a glance. She was turning down modeling jobs at 13….

Eccentric: she had turned down a full free-ride to a prestigious boarding school that ultimately guaranteed admission to Harvard Undergraduate and Law. When she told the stunned recruiters 'No,' one was finally able to get out the rod 'Why?' In a haughty tone, she replied, "I will be a chemical engineer, not a lawyer."

Intelligent: when her parents (she was an only child) moved to Switzerland when she was 15, she picked up three languages in three months and was fluent in three more by the end of 12 months.

Unusual: that was the best definition of her entire family.

Her mother – once, I'd rung the doorbell. A voice called out 'Come in, I'm in the kitchen.' I smelled food cooking. I tiptoed into the kitchen. Carol's back was to me. I snuck up to her and grabbed her around the waist and spun her around, planning to kiss her.

Wrong: it was Mrs. Biggs who I had grabbed, and she's old: at least 20-25 years older than Carol, and, man, am I embarrassed.

Her dad – he worked for some Agency, because he worked for the Government and kept disappearing and re-appearing at irregular times. He wasn't a huge man: 5'9-5'10" tall, 160-170 pounds, but he was strong and powerful, sharp, and a crack shot with pistols and rifles. I didn't mess around with Carol…much. He would remind me of those Titan boosters….

The last time that I'd seen Carol was about four years ago, three weeks before my freshman year in college. She was back in the States for a modeling tour, and she managed to talk her agent into driving her down to see me. We'd talked about a future, but it didn't seem like we'd made much progress towards an agreement.

I was certain that we'd end up together, someday. I remembered her smile when she left, a smile of joy and sadness mixed together, and I could still taste that kiss…

--------

…and I was back in the present.

"Carol, what in the world are you doing in Europe with Joel?"

"He's in Zurich on tour with his school, and I saw him on the street the other day. I wan after him, yelling his name; he stopped, we talked, and we decided to call and talk to you."

"What can I say?" What **could** I say?

"James, there's another reason I wanted to call. I was going to write you, but Joel helped me decide to call." Her voice, by this time, had dropped to a softer and very serious tone.

"One question: how in the world did you find me?"

"Daddy helped."

"Oh." No other statement required.

"GO on, Carol, what were you going to tell me?"

"James, I'm getting married."

Dead silence. I gripped the receiver so hard that I thought it was going to break in two.

"Well?" she sounded anxious.

"James, don't do this to me!" she was ready to cry: I knew my Carol far too well, even after this long.

"I'm…uh…great, Carol! Who's the lucky guy?"

"His father's big in ranching in Australia. I met him on the slopes here three years ago. We've dated off and on, nothing serious, I thought, until he proposed three months ago. I've been putting him off for that long, and I finally said 'yes' three days ago."

"I'm happy for you, Carol," LIAR! "For both of you. What about your parents?"

"They're thrilled. But, James," and she stopped.

"Yes?" I asked after silence.

"James, I couldn't tell you. I didn't know how. I mean, after all we'd been through…" She started to sniffle.

"Carol, if I even thought that I was causing you any pain…You know how I feel about you. But, now, I don't think it would have ever worked out: we're two very different people. You understand?"

"I- Yes, James, I do. But, James, listen: I want you to come over and be at my wedding."

"Sure, and you want the President to attend, also?" I laughed.

"James!" she sounded hurt. "We'll send you the tickets…"

"No, Carol, this is yours, all yours. I'd only get in the way and cause trouble. Besides," I tried to sound funny, 'with my luck, I'd get hijacked to Cuba or someplace," remember, it was the 80s.

"Well," she drew back a sniffle: I knew her sounds. "But, James, you'll always be there for me."

"Carol, we had fun and love, but we never were meant to be together: we're too different. It's better this way."

"Yeah. Sure. Hold on," and silence, followed by sobbing in the background.

"James?" it was Joel.

"Joel? You heard that end of the conversation, didn't you?"

"Yeah, man, it's a real shame: I was pulling for you and Carol even back then. I expected you two to get together, and when she told me about Devon…"

"Joel, I know she won't believe me, but you will. I really do care for her, but being angry won't help the sitch," and Joel laughed: we'd used sitch in elementary school and driven out teacher crazy whenever we said it.

"Joel, do you love her enough to let her go? Completely?"

I stopped, and I thought.

"Yes, I do, Joel."

"Wait." Silence, and I could hear snatches of a conversation in the background.

"James?" a tear-stained voice called out.

"Carol, it's all right, believe me. I can't say it any other way, I don't know how. Ask Joel; he'll understand.

"James," silence, then "I really did love you, you know that, didn't you?"

"And. I loved you, Carol, and I always will. You'll always be special to me: you were my first kiss, my first father threats," and that made her laugh.

"I've got to go, James."

"Take care, Carol. Be good to him."

"Goodbye, James," Joel's voice startled me.

"Joel, it's not polite to listen on extensions. Goodbye, though." His end clicked.

"Carol, has he changed much?"

"Not much: he's taller, and his hair's longer, but he's still Joel."

"That's good. And, Carol?"

"Yes, James?"

"Take very good care of your self. Remember, I've got an investment in you."

"James Timothy Possible, you stop that!" She was smiling now, most definitely. "Good luck, you handsome devil; maybe we'll see each other someday."

"Carol?"

"Yes, James?"

"I may have found someone who just might make me as happy as you did."

"JAMES! That's wonderful! What's her name?"

"Anne. She's a redhead," and Carol laughed.

"You said you'd never marry a redhead, James: remember?"

"Well…." I trailed.

"Good for you, James, good for you.

"I hope it works out for you two, James, I really do"

"I hope it does, too. Goodbye, Carol."

"Goodbye, James." Click. Clickety-ty-ty-ty-click dial tone………

I stood thee, holding a dead receiver. In the lobby, someone yelled "Fourth? Fourth?"

I stood there another second, hung up the phone, and called back "Fourth!" walking to the table to play bridge, while my insides, quietly but surely, died.

--------

"Gee, Dr. P, so that's who that picture was," Ron grinned as he handed me back the picture that had fallen from the box of old, old memorabilia.

"Yes, Ron, and now you know where the space launch threats came from," I chuckled as I handed him another Short-Neck Root Beer and opened another one myself.

"And, how long was it after that call did you propose to Mrs. Dr. P?"

"Ronald!" I grinned. "That's not what you wanted to ask, is it?" I grinned, and he lost.

"Well, yea, it's not.

"Whatever happened to Carol?"

"You know her by another name, on old _**"Sports Pictured"**_ magazine covers," I grinned, and his eyes lit up.

"You mean, you almost married-" and I cur him off.

"That's right, Ronald, and that's between us guys, correct?"

"Correct," and we clicked bottles and drank.

"But, Dr. P?"

"Yes, Ronald?"

"Booyah to you, sir, Booyah," and he stood and bowed.

"Thank you, Ronald, but I think I got the better end of the deal; don't you?"

"Got the better end of what deal, James?" and Anne, my lovely wife, came in from the hospital.

"The 'beautiful, glamorous, and highly intelligent spouse' sweepstakes: I won, big time," I responses sincerely, and Anne grinned.

"You didn't do too bad on the daughter pool, either, Dr. P," Ron grinned, and luckily for him Kim came in just in time to hear his comment.

She gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Booyah," was his response.

Anne, not to be outdone, put her things on the counter and came over to me, sat in my lap, and whispered into my ear:

"And a Booyah to you, James," and she assaulted my lips and tongue.

"MOM!"

Memories are good, but the here-and-now rocks!

--------

Intermezzo 6 fin.


End file.
